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7 



LIFE-SCENES 



FROM THE 



POTJE GOSPELS, 



V • 

REV. GEO. JONES, A.M., 



CHAPLAIN U. S. NAVY. 



JNO. P. PRALL, No. 9 SPRUCE STREET. 
j 1865. 

ft l A^t+sfrr 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S65, by 

GEORGE JONES, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District ot 
New York. 



ID fro 



\ 



Jsa P. Peall, 

Printer, 9 Sprnce-St., N. Y. 




^\^* .^ 



> N 



Letter introducing the Author ; hj the late Prof. 
B. Silliman, Sen., of Yale College. 



January 29th, 1864. 
To 

My Dear Sir, — Permit me to name to you and 
to ask your kind influence in favor of my excellent 
friend, Rev. George Jones, a gentleman whose 
talents, literary acquirements, and catholic Christian 
zeal in doing good, entitle him to the confidence and 
esteem which he enjoys among a wide circle of 
friends. 

He has added a new tribute to the literature of 
the Scriptures in an original- effort to make vivid and 
life-like the scenes of the Saviour's life. 

Mr. Jones, as a chaplain in the Navy, has exert- 
ed a very happy influence upon the character of our 
seamen. He is well known among the literary and 
scientific circles of our country, and as a highly intel- 
ligent traveller in all quarters of the globe." 

Yours very respectfully and truly, 

B. SILLIMAN. 






-.--.:,. 



The hv 



WASHlNGTi- 



«* 



preXjImin-Ajry. 



The object in writing this book has been to fill up 
the scenes in the Gospels by means of the various 
knowledge now within our reach ; and to make them 
more real and life-like to the mind than they frequently 
appear in our unappreciative mode of reading. T hose 
ancient times, and the habits of the people, were all 
so different from our own, that we need great help 
in order fully to understand the Gospel narratives ; 
but this help is often beyond the reach of individuals ; 
or, when afforded, is in the form of commentaries or 
critical works, and so disjointed as to have little 
attractiveness, and to make little permanent impres- 
sion on the reader. 

We need something more ; something that will 
gather from the most reliable books on archaeology, 
criticism, topography, history, &c , the knowledge 
bearing on the incidents in the Gospels, and which 
will mingle all this with its scenes, in a manner to 
give them not only fullness, but, as far as possible, 
freshness to our minds. That has been attempted in 
this work ; and the nature of the subjects will attach 
a value to the effort, although it may fall short of 
fully accomplishing the purpose. 

After the book had been written, the author felt 



VI PRELIMINARY. 

greatly encouraged by meeting the following passages 
from other writers, showing how much such an effort 
is needed. 

From a Critique on Renarts " Life of Jesus," by a Professor 
in Theology. 
" This life of Jesus, so fascinating to the lovers of romance, 
may also lead Christian thinkers to depict the living Christ more 
vividly in all his human endowments, relations, and sympathies. 
We are, perhaps, too apt to dwell upon him as the centre of 
doctrines ; to substitute the abstract dogma for the living per- 
son. The success of Eenan's book is, doubtless, in part, to be 
attributed to the graphic beauty with which he depicts the 
scenes in the midst of which the youth of our Lord was spent ; 
to the air of living interest he throws around the personal nar- 
ratives and the records of events ; to his use of a prolific and 
cultivated imagination in making resurrection of the past, so 
that it often seems like a present reality. How much more per- 
fectly, without inconsistencies and contradictions, might thi3 be 
done by the reverent Christian scholar, imbibing the full spirit 
of the evangelists, and using all the resources of thought and 
scholarship to illustrate the wondrous story of Jesus of Naza- 
reth ! Let this but be written in a book, as it is inscribed on 
every loving and believing heart ; let the radiant Person of our 
Lord appear in visible majesty and grace, and such poor fictions 
as that of Renan will quickly vanish, as do the phantoms of a 
rayless night before the brightness of a rising sun." 

From the N. Y. " Christian Advocate and Journal " {Metho- 
dist) of June 1st, 1865. 
" We have never met with a book in which the life of Christ 
has been adequately delineated from the modern point of view. 
.... The materials for illustration are abundantly at hand, and 
we trust one day to see them graphically and vividly employed 
for that purpose. The book, if properly executed, would vie in 
interest with any romance ; for the tragedy culminating at Cal- 
vary is without a parallel in all the elements of pathos and sub- 
lime incident." 



PRELIMINARY. VII 

From Canon Stanley's book on Sinai and Palestine. 

" So to delineate the outward events of the Old and New Testa- 
ment, as that they should come home with a new power to those 
who, by long familiarity, have almost ceased to regard them as 
historical truth at all— so to bring out their inward spirit that a 
more complete realization of their outward form should not 
degrade but exalt the faith of which they are the vehicle — this 
would indeed be an object worthy of all labor which travellers 
and theologians have ever bestowed on the East." 

To meet such a requirement from the public is how- 
ever a task of many difficulties : for while an author 
like Renan may add to his graphic scenes by allowing 
free, rein to a discursive fancy, the Christian writer 
puts off his shoes, for the place on which he is standing 
is holy ground. He must still be reverent, in every 
effort to be graphic. But, on the other hand, he has 
an advantage in the elevation of feeling produced by 
the Divine Presence, in which he knows himself to be. 
And very pleasant it is to him, while following Christ 
in his lowest humiliations, in his mingling with publi- 
cans and sinners, and in the teachings adapted to the 
most abject in life, to watch the Divinity still shining 
out, and only made grander by the contrast with its 
surroundings. That grandeur of the God revealed 
would sometimes indeed be oppressive and overwhelm- 
ing, if it were not in Christ: for in him it was so 
wondrously mingled with what is gentle and loving, 
that it never made him the less winning or less ap- 
proachable. 

Indeed the difficulty in following Jesus, in such re- 
cords, is to feel that he is of the earth (though tempo- 
rarily ;) so constantly is he raising us towards heaven ; 
and to recognize in him the human nature in all its 



VIII PRELIMINARY. 

reality, to such a degree does the Divinity appear 
in him and engross our minds. 

Therefore, in the course of time, people have come, 
in their feelings, to attach to him and his trials some- 
thing of the mythical ; and they read his life, perhaps, 
without aiming to enter into the fulness of its actuali- 
ties. The writer of this book has endeavored to give 
to his humiliations the force and vividness of the real, 
while, at the same time, recognizing the grandeur of 
the Divine. 

His aids, in preparing this work, have been the 
following : 

1. He has been in Palestine ; — his visit, a short 
one, but sufficient to assist his judgment respecting 
descriptions of those countries by others. 

2. He has consulted a great variety of books ; 
chiefly : — 

On Criticism : Rev. S. T. Bloomfield, " The Greek 
Testament, with English Notes, critical, philological, 
and exegetical f 2 vols. : H. S. Alford, " The Greek 
Testament, with a critically revised text, and a critical 
commentary/' an excellent work ; F. A. Tholuck, F, 
A. D., " Commentary on the Gospel of St. John ; 
Olshaitscn, Dr. Adam Clarke, &c, &c. 

On Archaeological facts : Rev* Dr. Lightfoot, The 
whole works (9 vols.) edited by John Roger Pitman ; 
John's Archaeology ; Josephus, &c. 

On Topography : Biblical Researches by E. A. Rob- 
inson and E. Smith, 3 vols. ; Rev. Geo. Williams, 
" The Holy City ;" Van de Velde, " Narrative of a 
Journey through Syria and Palestine ;" Thompson's 
"Land and the Book ;" E. D. Clarke's "Travels in 



PRELIMINARY. IX 

various countries of Europe, Asia and Africa;" Olin, 
Durbin, Stanley, Pococke, Sandys, &c, &c. 

Also various other authors not easily classified , whose 
names will be found in the notes, as they are quoted . 

3. The writer has also, in filling up these scenes, 
brought into use those moral and physical laws of our 
being, by which, certain circumstances being given, we 
may know that certain results in feeling or action will 
follow : but, in doing this, he has tried always to keep 
strictly to what might be known to be the actualities 
in the case, and never to allow fancy to make any ex- 
aggerations or distortions of the truth. He hopes he 
has succeeded in this, for no vividness of presentation 
can make amends for the want of truthfulness. 

As respects the order of events, he has followed 
Robinson in his " Harmony of the Gospels." This 
order is nearly the same as in St. Mark's Gospel, as 
far as events are described by that writer, who, with 
St. John, was the most methodical of the Evangelists. 

No efforts, unless by the direct influences of the 
Spirit, can ever bring back to our minds the freshness 
of the Gospel histories, which was lost when we were 
too young to understand fully their contents ; yet it 
is hoped that this book, by its delineations, " from the 
modern point of view," may help to give a newness 
to some of the scenes. 

The reader has, perhaps, wondered, sometimes, 
what would be his sensations if the Scripture-truths 
were, now, first presented to him. The author of 
this book once witnessed a circumstance of that kind ; 
— a man of mature intellect, and apparently of open 
and candid mind, listening, for the first time in his 
life, to the Gospel of Christ. It was in the mission- 



X. PRELIMINARY. 

ary church in the centre of Shanghae, in China ; and 
the scene was a singularly interesting one. The mis- 
sionary was preaching in the native language ; and 
this man, apparently about forty-five years of age, 
and with an open and intelligent countenance, was, 
presently, not able to keep his seat. He arose, and 
stood through the rest of the discourse, seemingly 
unconscious of everything but what he was listening 
to ; his hands grasping the back of the seat before 
him ; his features lighted up and showing deep atten- 
tion ; and his eyes never once removed from the 
speaker's face ; a slight nod of the head frequently 
giving assent to what was said. After the services 
were over, he followed the missionary to his room ; 
mentioned that he came to the city on business from 
a distant town in the interior ; that a friend belong- 
ing to the same place had once heard the missionaries, 
and had told him of them ; and that he had come, on 
this occasion, to hear for himself. 

That sight showed, in some slight degree, what 
may have been the scenes in Palestine when the 
crowds were following the Messiah, and listening to 
his preaching. It has been with the author con- 
stantly, while writing this book ; — that intent face, 
that rapt attention, those glistening eyes, that sur- 
prised and pleased look, and those nods of assent. 

References for authority are carefully given through- 
out this work, so that the reader may judge for him- 
self of the truthfulness of the scenes here sketched. 

GEO. JONES. 

Brooklyn, New York. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 1. 



At the Jordan. — John baptizing. The river described. 
Peculiar significance in this baptism of Jews. Expecta- 
tion among other nations as welt as in Judea,that a great 
Conqueror was, at that time, to appear. Circumstances 
to give it peculiar interest now. Acts of Pilate, 17-22 

CHAPTER II. 

At the Jordan. — People flocking to the baptisms. The 
Jewish hopes of universal conquest not to be considered 
as extravagant. John's appearance. His annunciations 
draw closer attention to the prophecies. The result. 
Christ at the Jordan. Suggestions concerning his per- 
sonal appearance, . , . . 22-34 

CHAPTER III. 

The Wilderness of Judea. — Description of it. The Mes- 
siah led there to be tempted. The intermingling of the 
supernatural with natural. Our proper position regarding 
such things, ' 34-39 

CHAPTER IY. 

At the Jordan. — The deputation to John from the Sanhe- 
drim. The Pharisees and Sadducees described. John 
is questioned, and his replies, . . . 39-50 

CHAPTER Y. 

Condition of Palestine. — That country central, and yet 
singularly isolated. History. Judea finally becomes a 
Roman province, , . . . .50-62 

CHAPTER YI. 

Jewish Manners and Customs, — Great religions changes 
wrought by the captivity. Dress. Manners. Education, 62-73 



XII CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Festivals.-- Not so burdensome as they appear to us. How 
they journeyed to them. Overclouding of the Jewish 
mind. 1 he oral law and its power, . . 73—96 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Jost, a Modern Jewish Historian. — His views of that pe- 
riod : of the Baptist : of Christ, . . , 96-106 

CHAPTER IX. 

Galilee, Cana.— Agricultural weal'th and populousness of 
Galilee. The wedding at Cana, . . . 106-113 

CHAPTER X. 

TJie Temple. — The first, second, and third temples. The 
last described : recent explorations beneath, . 113-126 

CHAPTER XL 

Tlie Temple Cleansed. Nicodemus. — Abuses at the tem- 
ple and" the scenes they occasioned. Christ corrects the 
evil. Night-visit from Nicodemus. John imprisoned, 126-137 

CHAPTER XII. 

In Samaria and Galilee. — Jesu3 passes through Samaria. 
Claims the Messiahship. Goes thence to Cana. Cures 
a nobleman's son, .... 137-141 

CHAPTER XIII. 

At Nazareth — Plain of Esdraelon described. Situation of 
Nazareth. Christ preaches there in the synagogue. 
Claims the Messiahship. The result, . . 141-148 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Lake of Galilee. Capernaum. — The lake described. 
Plain of Gennesaret. Capernaum, . . 148-153 

CHAPTER XV. 

At Capernaum and through Galilee. — Evening scene at 
Capernaum. The Messiah goe3 through Galilee preach- 
ing and healing. Leper healed. Returns to Capernaum 
and heals a paralytic, .... 153-168 



CONTENTS. XIII 



CHAPTER XVI. 



At Jerusalem ; also at Capernaum. — Christ goes to the 
Passover. Heals a man at the pool of Bethesda. League 
between Pharisees and Herodians to put the Messiah to 
death. He returns to Capernaum. Heals many there, 168-176 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Sermon on the Mount. — Also the teachings of their Rab- 
bis. He heals the servant of a centurion, . 176-187 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Nain. — Castle of Macherus — Only son of a widow restored 
to life at Nam. The Baptist sends messengers to Christ. 
Herod's feast. John is behe-aded, • . . 187-196 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Two Dinners.— Christ makes another journey through 
Galilee. Dines with a Pharisee, and the scene there. 
He crosses the lake. Storm ; the sea calmed by his 
word. Dinner with Levi. Healings. Another circuit 
through Galilee. Again comes to Nazareth, 196-205 

CHAPTER XX. 

" Let us make him a King."— He crosses the lake. 5000 
fed miraculously. They would make him a king. Night 
on the lake. The faith of Peter fails. Many healings. 
Four thousand miraculously fed, . . 205-213 

CHAPTER XXI. 

The Transfiguration. — He goes to Caesarea Philippi. The 
Transfiguration there, . . . 214-219 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Dispute among the Apostles on the way back to Galilee. — 
His mode of instructing them. He goes through Sama- 
ria. Ten lepers healed, . . . 220-225 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Jerusalem-. — Feast of Tabernacles. — This feast described. 
Dancing in the temple court as part of it, . 226-233 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Messiah at the Feast of Tabernacles. — Teaches there. 
Officers sent by the rulers to watch him ; the result, 234-246 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Bethany and the road to Jericho.— Situation of Bethany. 
The road described. Parable of the Good Samaritan, 

246-250 
CHAPTER XXYI. 
Jerusalem. — Tlie Man born blind. — Different kinds of ex- 
communication. The blind man healed. Consequen- 
ces, ...... 250-258 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Feast of Dedication. — Why instituted. Christ preach- 
ing at the temple. Attempt at violence upon him. He 
goes to Perea, .... 258-263 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Raising of Lazarus. — Message to Christ from Bethany. 
Death of Lazarus. Scenes then and afterwards at Beth- 
any. Lazarus raised, .... 263-273 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

In Ephraim and Perea. — Many teachings and parables in 
these places. Healing also. Receives and blesses little 
children, ..... 273-280 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Jericho. — The richness and beauty of its plain, . - 281-289 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

The Messiah at Jericho. — Blind men healed. — Zaccheus. 
Startling rumor that the kingdom of heaven was imme- 
diately to appear. Bartimeus, . . . 290-299 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Jerusalem described. — Its picturesque appearance as seen 
from the Mount of 01ive3. Recent explorations under 
the city, ..... 300-309 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

TJie triumphal entry. — The road across the Mount of 
01ive3. Christ goes from Bethany to Jerusalem. Mul- 
titudes meeting and attending him. Their hozannas. 
He weeps over the city. Goe3 to the temple. Healings 
there. Shouts of hosanna. Indignation of the priests 
and Scribes, 309-381 



CONTENTS. XV 



CHAP PER XXXIY. 

At the temple. — Woes denounced — Christ again cleanses 
the temple. The Pharisees wish to put Lazarus also to 
death. They unite again with the Herodians. Woes 
denounced against them and the Scribes. He predicts 
his sufferings. Heroism of Christianity, . 318-329 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

The Plot. — They are determined to take the Messiah by 
subtilty and put him to death. Difficulties in the way. 
Their law for trials. Their plot. List of the high 
priests, ..... 330-339 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Supper at Bethany. — Judas. — Christ's head and feet an- 
ointed at the supper. Indignation of Judas. His pro- 
bable course of reasoning. Bargains to betray Christ, 

339-344 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

The Passover Feast. — Its origin. The posture at table. 
Christ and the Apostles at this supper. He washes their 
feet. Judas unmasked. Usual order of the supper. 
The Christian Eucharist instituted, . . 345-358 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Gethsemane. — The Messiah and eleven disciples retire to 
this place. His prayers there. The sweat of blood. Is 
seized and bound, . . • 358-365 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Hall of Caiaphas. — The Messiah taken to house of Annas, 
and why. Thence to the palace of Caiaphas. The hall 
and court in large eastern houses. The trial there. The 
adjuration by the high priest. The result. Christ's 
claims to the Godhead throughout his preachings. 
Peter denies his Lord. His remorse, . 365-377 

CHAPTER XL. 

The Trial before Pilate -This to be the Chagigah, or 
great day of rejoicing by the Jews. The ceremony of 
cutting the first fruits. The regular Sanhedrim council. 
The Messiah before them. Formally condemned. Tak- 
en before Pilate. The governor's character by Philo. 



XVI CONTENTS. 

The trial there. Christ is sent, next, before Herod An- 
tipas. Scene there. Is returned to Pilate. His cruci- 
fixion demanded. How that punishment was regarded 
by the Romans. Pilate yields to the demand, and gives 
sentence. Judas and the Sanhedrim, . . 377-394 

CHAPTER XLI. 

The Crucifixion — The usual scourging preparatory ; how 
severe. The Messiah is taken to the place of crucifixion. 
Nailing to the cross. The agonies attending such a 
death. Darkness over the land. I he final a?ony and 
cry. Earthquake. The centurion's exclamation. The 
side pierced. " Behold the Lamb of God which taketh 
away the sin of the world," . . . 395-409 

CHAPTER XLIL 

The Burial, — Joseph of Arimathea and Xicodemus place 
the body in a new sepulchre. The women follow it, and 
sit by the tomb. The Jewish rulers procure a guard, and 
seal the tomb. How this night closed over Jerusa- 
lem, . . . : . 410-419 

CHAPTER XI2II. 

The Resurrection — Moon near the full. The guards at 
the tomb. An angel appears. The resurrection. The 
guards bribed, and a false report sent abroad. The Sanhe- 
drim never dared to make issue with the apostle3 on this 
subject, ..... 420-426 

CHAPTER XLIY. 

After the Resurrection. The Ascension. — The Saviour is 
seen repeatedly through 40 day3 after his resurrection. 
Galilee chosen for the Great Commi3s'on and the great 
promise. The final manifestation of himself at the Mount 
of Olives. His ascension, . . . 427-444 

CHAPTER XLY. 

" What think ye of Christ ?"— The miracle of the presen- 
tation of such a character to U3 is subject to our own 
apprehension. Could not have been an ideal only, for 
no one could have conceived it. The chain of proof 
that the Gospels were written a3 they profess to have 
been. The proof, first from enemies : then from Christian 
writers, of the3e early periods. The conclusion, . 444-455 



LIFE-SCENES 



FROM THE 



POUE aOSDPELS. 
CHAPTER I. 

AT THE JORDAN. 

There was a very strange scene at the banks of the 
Jordan. The time of which we are writing was about 
eighteen hundred and thirty-five years ago ; and the 
scene referred to was a large gathering of excited peo- 
ple around a man of singular appearance, who was 
making a wonderful announcement, and was engaging 
in a baptismal rite of very startling significance. He 
was a gaunt ascetic ; in his dress and manner, and in 
his authoritative language, reminding all who saw and 
heard him of the old prophets ; and, indeed, in his 
appearance so resembling Elijah, that the query was im- 
mediately started in every man's mind, whether he was 
not actually that prophet risen from the dead ? The 
idea of such a resurrection of Elijah was familiar to 
the minds of the Jews ; for the belief had long been 
universal among them, that, restored to life, he would 
be the precursor of the Messiah himself. This man 
was proclaiming, " Repent ye, for the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand. 11 It was believed by the Jews, that, 



18 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

at the appearing of the Messiah, they were to be ini- 
tiated by baptism into the new dispensation of his 
kingdom f and here now they were called to come 
and to be baptized ; and numbers, after confessing 
their sins, were led down into the Jordan for that 
rite. 

The scenery all around was in character with the 
strange performer in this ceremony ; — a desert place, 
represented by a modern traveller to that region as a 
dreary waste, " weird, and singularly wild and impres- 
sive." The Jordan is a very peculiar stream. After issu- 
ing from the Lake of Tiberias, which is itself 652 feet 
below the surface of the Mediterranean, its course is 
southwardly, in a valley called by the present natives 
El Ghor, or " the depression," six or seven miles wide, 
and sunk from 1000 to 1200 feet below the adjacent 
country. Running lengthwise in the Ghor is a second 
valley, depressed below it to a depth of fifty feet, and 
with a width of 400 yards ; and then, sunk' again in 
this, and winding about in a most tortuous manner, 
is the channel of the river. The stream has an aver- 
age width of fifty-six yards, with commonly a depth 
of from three to five feet.* The current is usually 
rapid, for the distance between the Lake of Tiberias 
and the Dead Sea is, in a straight line, sixty miles, and 
the descent between them is 660 feet. Sometimes the 
stream presents cataracts, at others it expands and has 
a gentle flow. Where it is rapid, the bottom consists 
of rock or sand. The channel is fringed at its imme- 
diate sides with rushes or cane, and with willows and 
similar trees, which, in the utter barrenness around, 
are a pleasant relief to the eye. Such is the stream so 

il Bloomfield on Matt, i 11. 1. 



The Jordan. 19 

often referred to in our hymnology, and so dear, by its 
associations, to every Christian heart. Its channel be- 
ing so far below the level of the Ghor that its water 
never overflows into the latter ; this wide valley, having 
also no springs, is a scene of desolation, and appears to 
have been so in the earliest times.* The soil at the 
spot we have now under consideration is described by 
modern travellers as " unfertile, and in many places en- 
crusted with salt, and having. small heaps of white 
powder, like sulphur, scattered at short intervals over 
its surface."!' The hills bounding the Ghor are gener- 
ally abrupt and broken, and are always naked and 
painful to the eye. On the east they are soon suc- 
ceeded by ranges 2000 or 2500 feet in height ; and, 
back of these, is finally the very lofty range of Mount 
Nebo, its summit forming a horizontal line smooth and 
unbroken, as if an immense wall had there been built 
up against the sky. 

This will give us an idea of the wildness and deso- 
lateness of the spot called in the Scriptures " the Wil- 
derness of Judea," where this strange man was now 
proclaiming his startling doctrines, and was adminis- 
tering baptism in the Jordan. His cry that the king- 
dom of heaven was at hand, quickly repeated through- 
out Judea, and all over the regions bordering on the 
river valley, sent a thrill through every Jewish heart, 
and met there a ready response ; for there had been an 
expectancy of thh kind universally indulged by the 
Jews (a temporal kingdom however), and, indeed, not 

° See Josephus Le bello, iii, 10, § 7. 

f Robinson'^ Bib. Researches. This description of the Ghor and 
Jordan is drawn from Robinson, Van de Velde, and the Dead Sea 
expedition. 



20 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

confined to them alone. Percrebuerat, says Suetonius, 
Oriente toto, yetus et constans opinio esse in 
fatis, ut eo tempore judea profecti rerum poti- 
Rentur : There had been greatly multiplied through 
all the East an old and uninterupted opinion, originat- 
ing in the decree of the Fates, that, at this time, persons 
coming from Judea should obtain universal dominion* 
Tacitus informs us that the multitude [in Judea] relied 
upon an ancient prophecy, contained, as they believed, 
in books kept by the priests, in which it was foretold 
that, at this lime, the power of the East would prevail 
over the nations, and a race of men should go forth from 
Judea to extend their dominion over all the rest of the 
world:\ Josephus says : But now what did most elevate 
them [the Jeivs] in this war wis an ambiguous oracle 
that was also found in their sacred writings, hoic, about 
that time, one from their country should become gover- 
nor of the habitable world.% 

These expectations, it is evident, had reference only 
to an earthly sovereignty ; but as such they met even 
a heartier response among the Jews than any of a 
sublimer character could have done ; for the nation was 
just beginning to feel the full terrors of the Roman 
power, which had enclosed them in its iron embrace, 
and from which they knew that there was no escape by 
human aid. Their independence may be said to have 
been fully bartered away for Roman favor by Herod 
the Great. Archelaus, the successor to part of his 
kingdom, was deposed by Augustus Caesar, and ban- 
ished to Gaul ; and Roman governors were appointed 
to Judea, the sceptre having clearly, to every pcrcep- 

* In Vt-Bpas. f Hist. lib. v, 12. % De Bello, vi, 5, §4. 



At the Jordan. 21 

■ 
tioiij departed, and their country, now but a Roman 
province, from which successive rulers tried who could 
exact the most. Roman soldiers were scattered, in 
garrison, in various parts ; tax-gatherers (publicans) 
were to be seen everywhere, and were constantly, to the 
eyes of the oppressed inhabitants, reminders of their 
subjection to foreign power, and were hated, not only 
for this, but for their unjust exactions ; and most alarm- 
ing of all, an. act of their present governor, Pontius Pi- 
late, had shown them how insecure were their religious 
observances, and how open they were to the violation of 
the most cherished feelings of their nation. Their law 
forbade their paying any homage to images ; and the 
former governors, when ordering the Roman soldiers 
to Jerusalem, had directed them to come without the 
standards surmounted by the emperor's effigies, to 
which, when seen, honors were always required to be 
paid. Pilate, aware of this hostility to images, had re- 
cently directed his soldiers to be introduced into the 
city by night ;* and morning disclosed the hated effi- 
gies in Jerusalem, and in the castle of Antonia attached 
to the N. "W. corner of the temple itself. A horror 
seized upon all the people, and a deputation hastened 
with remonstrances to the governor, at Caesar ea. He 
treated their act as an insult to the emperor, and had 
the deputies surrounded by his soldiers ; but the effort 
to overawe them was futile ; they fell to the ground 
and offered their necks to the sword, rather than yield ; 
and, finally, the .obnoxious emblems were withdrawn. 
Afterwards, when the governor, seizing on some of the 
revenues of the temple, employed them in bringing wa- 
ter to the city, the inhabitants shocked at such use of 

• Jos. Antiq. xviii, 3, § 1^ 



22 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

i 

the sacred treasures, rose in tumult ; a collision with 
the soldiers was the consequence, and great havoc 
among the unarmed multitudes ensued. 



CHAPTER II. 

AT THE JORDAN. 

It is not wonderful, therefore, that just at this time 
the national heart was ready to be acted upon by such 
a scene as that at the Jordan, where the prophet-like 
man stood calling people to the cleansing of their 
hearts as a preparation for the new, significant rite con- 
nected with the coming of their expected great Deliv- 
erer ; and that multitudes flocked to him from regions 
far and near. He had selected a spot called Bethabara, 
or the house of the ford* seemingly a thoroughfare, while 
also a place remote from such complications as might 
arise from crowded neighborhoods : and there, where 
all nature in its sternness harmonized with him, and 
with the severe simplicity of his call and his act, he was 
soon surrounded by crowds " from Jerusalem and all 

© Van de Velde supposes Bethabara to have been at the present 
ford ob the way from Nablous (Sychem) to Es Salt, about twenty 
miles above the Pilgrims' bathing place near Jerieho. He bases 
this opinion on the time (two days and a half) allowed in John ii, 
1, in going from the baptismal scene to Cana, in Galilee. The 
width of the Jordan at this spot is 56 yards ; the depth about four 
feet. "" 



At the Jordan. 23 

Judea and all the region round about Jordan.'' They 
saw a man with only a garment of rough camel's hair, 
such as was worn by the poorest, fastened by a leath- 
ern girdle ; — locusts and wild honey for his food. Lo- 
custs are still eaten in Syria, chiefly, however, by Be- 
douin on the extreme frontiers of the desert, where, 
after being semi-boiled and salted and dried, they are 
packed up and kept for use. They may be seen in the. 
Syrian shops for sale, but are always considered as an 
inferior food, and are eaten only by persons of the 
poorest class .* This man had been brought up in the 
desert, and he still adhered to this abstemious food. 

Baptism was not unknown to the Jews, for it is uni- 
versally admitted to have been a rite in use among 
them for .the admission of proselytes ;t and it was 
practiced by the Persians and other oriental nations. 
Josephus informs us of the Essenes, — a noted sect 
in his nation, — that "when a proselyte hath given 
evidence during that time of trial fa year] that he can 
observe their continence, he approaches nearer to their 
way of living, and is made a partaker of the waters of 
purification. "J But the Essenes were a sect few in 
number and living in retired places ; and these baptis- 
mal scenes at the Jordan had evidently a significance 
different from any thing which the nation had pre- 
viously known. The prophet-like man gave them their 
significance, corresponding to the general belief of the 
dispensation to be inaugurated by the Messiah. 

That desert was now solitary no more. Crowds were 

* Thompson's Land and the Book. 

f Eloomfield. 

% Be Bello, ii, 8, § 7. 



24 Life-scenes prom the Four Gospels. 

flocking to it, for the cry of the Baptist that the king- 
doin of heaven was at hand, repeated over all the coun- 
try, had startled the people out of the lethargy wrought 
by oppressions, or by a belief that God had withdrawn 
from them ; — for, during a period of 400 years, there 
had been no prophet in Israel. 

John the Baptist looked as if he might well be Eli- 
jah himself; — so like him in this hairy dress, in his 
manner, in his authoritative voice ; and yet he was 
speaking of himself humbly, saying that one was com- 
ing immeasurably greater than he. 

What might the nation not expect ? What hopes 
could be too extravagant to be indulged ? We must 
not think them insane in their expectation of an univer- 
sal dominion ; for they believed that it had been prom- 
ised by Jehovah, and almost every spot in their land 
bore testimony to God's powerful action in their behalf. 
Just below this place, where John was baptizing, He 
had divided the deep waters of the Jordan in its rapid 
flow, and had kept them divided till his people had 
passed over dry-shod ; there, Jericho had fallen simply 
by his almighty will ; their history was full of his di- 
rect interpositions for their advantage ; — what would 
he not do for them now, if the Messiah himself, the 
Prince were to appear ? 

Those eastern people are excitable and demonstra- 
tive, and, in their common moods, seem often to stran- 
gers to be wildly emotional ; and we may imagine the 
scene, as people hurried to the river and gazed on 
John with an intensity of feeling that had never before 
been raised in them by any man ; and listened to his 
call to repentance and the reasons for it, and witnessed 
his baptisms ; — saw the penitents descend with the 



At the Jordan. 25 

sadness of grief in their face ; and saw them come up 
from the river, comforted and cheerful. Such feelings 
are contagious ; and every new-comer felt in himself 
the need of penitence, and longings for relief that could 
be bestowed only by a power not of earth. 

The teachings of John were plain and simple. As 
a proof of penitence and of changed feelings in those 
applying to him, he inculcated benevolence and kind 
acts : " He that hath two coats, let him impart to him 
that hath none ; and he that hath meat let him do like- 
wise." 

The crowd around him was a mixed one ; — men 
among them shunned by their neighbors, looked down 
upon with dislike by almost every one in the nation, 
and yet with human feelings, and with the same long- 
ings as others to shake off the load of guilt and to be 
comforted. Such were the publicans who presented 
themselves before the Baptist. We can almost see 
their hesitating manner, their subdued look, and their 
timid approach. They were not repelled. No "harsh- 
ness shown, — simply the injunction given, in order to 
prove the truth of their penitence : " Exact no more 
than is appointed you.' 7 

Soldiers also came, with that old question of the hu- 
man heart wanting relief, " What shall we do V The 
Roman garrisons in Juclea were drawn partly from 
Italy, but were chiefly composed of Syrians from the 
north of Palestine, or of foreign wanderers who had 
strayed into Judea ; and generally there was no good 
will between them and the Jews. But there were ex- 
ceptions, such as we see shortly after this in the case 
of Cornelius *of the Italian band. The soldiers at the 
Jordan pressed on towards the Baptist ; — for the pow- 



26 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

erful sympathies of the place had seized on them, and 
had changed their bold, fierce nature into one of hum- 
ble inquiry. The crowds gazed earnestly, as they ad- 
vanced. How would these men, famed for rapacity 
and violence, be received ? Some looked on them with 
indignation at their presumption in intruding on such 
scenes ; some with the cordiality begot by the new feel- 
ings at the baptism ; all with deep interest as the Bap- 
tist addressed them. His words had a latent reproof, 
and yet were gentle. " Do violence to no man, neither 
accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages." 
The rite was open to all coming in penitence. 

But there was suddenly a change in the character of 
this scene. A sensation was created among the multi- 
tudes by the approach of men of rank and power, who 
came on in the consciousness of their position, — Phar- 
isees with high pretensions to sanctity which they car- 
ried ostentatiously in the large phylacteries on their 
foreheads and arms, and in the width of the borders to 
their garments drawing attention to their unusual ob- 
servance of the Mosaic law (see Numbers xv, 37-41) ; 
— also Sadducees proud of their wealth and assumed 
superior intelligence. Both undisguised^ despised the 
ranks inferior to them. The multitudes drew back as 
this newly arrived party swept haughtily on ; and 
presently they caught the eye of the Baptist. 

What a change there was in him ! How his eyes 
lighted up ; how indignant the expressions of his face ; 
how changed was his voice from its former gentleness ! 
And his words were stunning. " brood of vipers, who 
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? Bring 
therefore fruits meet for repentance : and think not to 
say unto yourselves. We have Abraham to our father : 



At the Jordan. 27 

for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to 
raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the 
axe is laid unto the root of the trees ; therefore every 
tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down 
and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with wa- 
ter ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, 
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall bap- 
tize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire ; whose 
fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his 
floor, and gather his wheat into the garner : but he 
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 

The whole scene by the Jordan was becoming 
more and more confonnding to people's apprehensions ; 
for, not only had the bold ascetic stigmatized these 
Jewish leaders in a manner that must excite their 
wrath, but he had even seemed to cast disrespect on 
all claims arising from Abrahamic descent. He had 
ended also with words of terrific import respecting 
approaching events, when all false pretensions would 
be scattered to the winds> and those who held them 
would be fearfully and eternally punished. Fear, 
awe, and a new sense of shrinking respect for the 
Baptist, crept through the hearts of the multitudes, 
while yet they continued to be attracted by his gen- 
eral mildness and forbearance, and his gentleness to 
the truly penitent coming forward for the baptismal 
rite. 

The news of these scenes still continued to spread 
over the country, and crowds were still hurrying 
from all parts of it to that wild, dreary region, 
already filled with excited, wondering throngs. 

But who was this man, whose fame was now filling 
the land ? People were asking the question every- 



2S Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

where, and the results of inquiry disclosed some very 
interesting facts. 

His birth had been in the old age of his parents, 
and had been heralded by an angel. His father, a 
priest, while administering at the altar of incense in 
the temple, had seen the heavenly visitant, who an- 
nounced the approaching birth of the child, and said 
that he should be great in the sight of the Lord, and 
should be filled with the Holy Ghost. " And," con- 
tinued the angel, "many of the t children of Israel 
shall be turned to the Lord their God. And he shall 
go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to 
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the 
disobedient to the wisdom of the just ; to make ready 
a people prepared for the Lord." The father was 
struck dumb at the time on account of his unbelief, 
but recovered speech when the child, eight days after 
its birth, was brought to the temple, where, contrary 
to the expectations of relatives, he named his son 
John, according to the direction of the angel. These 
incidents were widely known at the time u through- 
out all the hill country of Judea, and produced dread 
as well as astonishment wherever known.* He was, 
according to the direction of the angel, to " drink 
neither wine nor strong drink f and his training 
is believed to have been in that most desolate 
region called the " Wilderness of Judea/' where 
probably he associated much with the Essenes, a sin- 
gular people, living chiefly at the only verdant spot 
in that desert — the fountain of En-Gedi, on the bor- 



° His birtu is supposed by Robinson and Reland to have been at 
Juttah (Joshua xxi, 16). a town about five miles south of Hebron, 
and twenty-five miles south of Jerusalem. 



At the Jordan. 29 



a. 
& j 



strong in spirit," and was prepared for his present 
work of teaching and baptizing. He was now about 
thirty years old, the age at which the Jewish priests 
entered upon the temple duties according to their 
law. 

Josephus says of him, that he " was a good man, 
and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as 
to righteousness towards one another, and piety to- 
wards God, and so to come to baptism ; for that the 
washing would be acceptable to him, if they made 
use of it, not in order to the putting away of some 
sins only, but for the purification of the body ; sup- 
posing still that the soul was thoroughly purified be- 
forehand by righteousness. f 

His exhortations were various ;J but they all point- 
ed clearly to the Messiah as now about to appear ; 
he asked no honors for himself; they were all to be 
given to one yet to come. In his recent address to 
the Pharisees and Sadclucees, he spoke of himself as 
immeasurably inferior to him whose appearance he 
was heralding ; for to bear the shoes of a master in 
that country was the task assigned to the meanest of 
servants, and yet the Baptist declared himself not even 

o Luke i, 80. 

f Anliq., xviii, 5, § 2. Josephus gives John's popularity as the 
cause for Herod's putting him to death, " since," as he says, " they 
came in crowds about him, for they were greatly moved by hearing 
his words ; xx., they seemed to do everything he should advise ;" 
and the king " thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent 
any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties 
by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it should 
be too late." 

$ Luke iii, 18. 



30 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

worthy of such an office as that. Therefore, while cu- 
riosity with regard to John was stimulated among this 
demonstrative people, to the highest degree, it took a 
still more intense form as regarded the tenor of his 
predictions. The excitement among all classes was 
great. Their Rabbis searched the Scriptures, and es- 
pecially the prophecies, with an interest suited to their 
wonderful expectations of glory and power to come 
with the Messiah, to their hatred of the Eoman gov- 
ernment, and to their felt position among all the na- 
tions of the earth : for the Jews were everywhere a 
slighted and despised people j while, on the other 
hand, " towards the rest of mankind," says Tacitus, 
a they nourished a sullen and inveterate hatred of 
strangers."* 

The dying words of their great progenitor, Jacob, 
had been, ever since his time, dwelling as a perpetual 
hope in the national heart — u The sceptre shall not 
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his 
feet until Shiloh come • and unto him shall the gath- 
ering of the people be. ,; t 

The sceptre had departed : was Shiloh now there, 
as John declared? There was also a passage in 
Daniel pointing with, peculiar significancy to the 
present time ; and everywhere people were now 
searching, with new interest, into his prophetic 
words. " Seventy weeks," says the prophet, li are 
determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, 
to finish the transgression, and make an end of sins, 
and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring 
in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision 
and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know, 

* Hist, v, 5. f Gen. xlix, 10. 



At the Jordan. 31 

therefore, and understand that from the going forth 
of the commandment to restore and to build up Jeru- 
salem unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven 
weeks and three score and two weeks."* Allowing 
years for days, the seventy weeks or four hundred 
and ninety years from the edict of Artaxerxes for re- 
building the city (B. C. 458) would bring the period 
for the appearing of the "Messiah the Prince" ex- 
actly to this time. 

Thus all prophecy and all history were in harmony 
with John's annunciations respecting the Messiah ; 
even foreign nations were expecting the advent of 
the Jewish Deliverer. How would he appear ? How 
spread his conquests ? How flash over the earth the 
glory of his reign ? — were questions that had long 
been discussed in the Jewish schools ; all with results 
tending to make the Jewish mind earthly and selfish. 
The whole nation was in a state of intense expectancy. 

The Messiah came. 

But how different he was from what the excited 
Jewish anticipations had pictured of his appearing ! 

Their favorite prophet had declared of him 780 
years before, "When we shall see him, there is no 
beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and 
rejected of men j a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief ; and we hid as it were our faces from 
him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."f 
For the purposes of our redemption God saw fit that 
it should be so ; but, notwithstanding that this proph- 
ecy was familiar to the Jews, still what a chasm be- 
tween this actual appearing and that which they ex- 
pected the appearing of the Messiah would be ! 

° Dan. ix, 24, 25. -j- Isaiah liii, 2 and 3. 



32 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

One day, amid those crowds at the Jordan, a stran- 
ger from Galilee presented himself for baptism ; but 
John drew back — 

"I have need," he said, "to be baptized of thee, 
and comest thou to me ?" The answer was simply : 

" Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us 
to fulfill all righteousness." 

They descended to the stream, and Jesus received 
baptism of John. 

They appear not to have met before f for their 
previous lives had been near the opposite extremes of 
Palestine, — one in Galilee, the other in the desert re- 
gion in the south of Palestine ; — but the Divine 
Power, under which John was acting, had given him 
admonition that the Messiah, whom he had. been 
preaching, was before him ; and the stern, lofty-toned 
man felt awed before this higher Presence : — the 
Messiah was there ! 

Of his personal appearance we have no authentic 
record ;t but never yet did a great thought take 
strong hold of any human being and not stamp itself, 
for the time, upon his face, and manifest itself in 
his eyes. Never yet was any grand emotion in 
the human heart, without impressing itself upon the 
features, and drawing there its unmistakable lines. 
Never yet was any true, permanent greatness in man, 
without having, for itself, a presence, felt and known 
and recognized by all as such. God. has not made 
all men great in form, or fair to look upon ; but he 
does make grandeur of soul stamp itself upon the 
face ; and he makes it heard in the intonations of the 

o John i, 33. 

f The description attributed to Lentulus is universally considered 
spurious. 



At the Jordan. 33 

voice, and felt in the manner ; a something often tin- 
definable, and yet making clear demonstration of it- 
self. Sometimes these things are fleeting ; and they 
pass with the heavenlike nobility of soul ; the lines 
of care and our lower nature taking their place : but 
sometimes, even in man, benevolence, and gentleness, 
and love, and nobility and power of thought, are so 
habitual as to impress themselves permanently on his 
looks ; and we are drawn towards him by an attrac- 
tion which our hearts cannot, and we do not, wish to 
resist. And, if this is so in man, earthy, dark in in- 
tellect, uncertain in judgment, compelled so often to 
grieve over sin, what must have been Christ the sinless, 
through whose face the Divinity looked out upon the 
universe which was his, and through whose eyes shone 
that love unutterable which brought him to our earth, 
here to die for us? What a Beins: there was, then, 
before John and the multitudes, at Jordan! a face, 
where Divine greatness, not fleeting but constant, had 
drawn the lines and sat constantly enthroned ; where 
gentleness, and meekness, and conscious omnipotence 
were harmonized ; and where every glance of the eye, 
every intonation of the voice, every lineament in the 
features, while showing the Divine supremacy within, 
were those also of one who had come in humility to 
seek and to save them that are lost. Who can won- 
der then that, when, even in the violence at Geth- 
semane, Jesus turned and looked upon his persecu- 
tors, they fell to the earth ? Who can wonder that, in 
the same night, a single look upon Peter turned that rec- 
reants heart into a fountain of tears ? Or that Pilate, 
drawn by that majesty of Presence in Christ during the 
trial, sought, with such determination, to let him go ? 
2* 



34 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

As the Messiah and John ascended from the bap- 
tism, a sign was given by which the latter, at the time 
he received his own divine mission, had been informed* 
that he should recognize Him whom he was to preach, 
and might know that the " kingdom of heaven '' now 
had come. He saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit 
of God descend and light like a dove upon Christ, 
while a voice came down from the supernal glory : 
" This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. "t 

The mission of the Messiah had thus its heavenly en- 
dorsement, and here its beginning. It began in the 
waters of the Jordan : it was to be sealed in blood. 
It began with the opening glory of heaven poured 
down : it was to end with the sun hidden at midday, 
and a supernatural darkness, as of night, over the earth. 
The heavens then opened once again to receive him 
from mortal sight. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DESERT. 

Amoxg the mountains, which, near the lower end of 
the Jordan, sweep in a semi-circular curve westwardly 
from the river and form a space for the great plain of 
Jericho, is one midway along called Quarantana, which 
rises almost perpendicularly from the edge of the plain 

c John i, 33. t Matt, xxxi, 1G, 17. 



The Desert. 35 

to a height of twelve or fifteen hundred feet.* Of 
Jericho scarcely any vestiges can be found : the last 
solitary palm tree remaining from the forests of palms, 
for which the place was once famous, has lately disap- 
peared : the plain, except a spot occupied by a few 
wretched dwellings, is desolate : the mountains border- 
ing it have always been a scene of desolation, and the 
whole region is given up to lawless bands : yet, through 
the long hours of the night, a light may be seen far up 
among the crags of Quarantana, showing that some pil- 
grim is doing penance there in these wild solitudes. 
The front of the mountains is indeed honey-combed 
with hermits' cells ; for, in ancient times, the place was 
a favorite one for anchorites, and the mountain takes 
its name from a tradition that to it the Messiah, after 
the baptism in the Jordan, was " led up by the Spirit," 
and there spent the forty days of his temptations in the 
wilderness. It is not probable that a spot looking 
down over a wide scene of what was then busy life — 
the great city and its surroundings — would have been 
chosen for such an occasion : but back of it, that is, to 
the westward and southward, is a region harmonizing 
with all that we conceive of those forty days of fast- 
ing and of the temptations. There, a great extent of 
country about 60 miles from north to south, and 15 
wide, bordered on the east by the Dead Sea and pre- 
cincts of the Jordan, and reaching on the west to 
within a few miles of Jerusalem itself, is one of singu- 
lar barrenness and dreariness ; looking, says the trav- 
eller Maundrell, " so torn and disordered, as if the earth 
had suffered some great convulsion, in which the very 
bowels had been turned outward." It is, indeed, a re- 

* Robinson. 



36 LiFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

gion of utter barrenness and of constant gloom. The 
country is all broken into hills generally of steep as- 
cent : and both hills and ravines are bare alike. The 
surface is a gray mouldering rock, or a gray earth, on 
which no vegetation will thrive ; and the whole, from 
century to century, has laid quite bare to the baking 
sun and the unfertilizing rains. Travellers through the 
deserts of Arabia tell us that the prevailing impression 
on their mind is of antiquity, and with regard to that 
country, the exclamation is forced from them. " how 
old it is !" but this region in Judea looks as if it had 
never been young, but had been a blasted and an ac- 
cursed place from the beginning. Ail avoid it who 
can. In the days of our Saviour, robbers haunted its 
thoroughfares : and, in our time, the few paths crossing 
it are made by the feet of marauders ; and he who sees 
a human being moving on its hills, however distant, 
expects violence, and prepares for defence. • 1 
chasms cross it here and there, at the sides of which 
the rocks almost meet, hundreds of feet above, and shut 
out the day ; and in their faces are the mouths of cav- 
erns, such as gave refuge to David and his pursued 
band.-* A recent traveller, speaking of the more south- 
ern portion of this region, says the prospect before him 
was '• indescribably stern and desolate :"' and speaks 
of " the fantastic forms of the rocks on the foreground, 
a medley of gray limestones, yellowish gravel, and 
fragments of lava, here piled up in perpendicular cliffs, 
there laid one above the other in flat strata, and yon- 
der rent asunder in frightful chasms : between these, 
a plain covered with a number of conical hills, white, 
gray and yellow, all the produce of subterranean 

I Samuel xxiv. 



The Desert. 37 

fire : 7 '* — this at the close of March, when vegetation in 
Juclea is in its highest perfection. Of the more north- 
ern portions, equally desolate, we shall have a future 
occasion to speak more in detail. 

To this " Wilderness of Judea," as it was called, 
the Messiah, after his baptism, was u led of the Spirit 
to be tempted :" and there he remained forty days. 

We are now at one of those events in Christ's 
earthly ministry, where the supernatural is blended 
so greatly with the natural that, with our limited ca- 
pacities, we have to be content with ignorance, and to 
gaze, though wonderingly yet silently, at the little 
which has been revealed. How can we understand, 
or expect to understand, where the spiritual and the 
material come, thus mingled in joint action ; and where 
the mysteries of the unseen world, which our intellects 
in vain strive to penetrat?, and which they could not 
comprehend if seen, are so imperfectly developed 
that we catch but a glimpse here and there as they 
flit before our minds ? We must remember that the 
times we are now considering were those when the 
most wonderful event of all ages was having its scene 
of action on our earth ; when the Divinity took our 
nature, and, in an union incomprehensible to us, was 
in great humility among men. — Incomprehensible ; for 
how can we understand that, when the union of our 
own souls and bodies is a mystery beyond our com- 
prehension, — an every-day mystery, and familiar, but 
yet never once penetrated by human science ? How 
can we understand, then, the Divine and human in 
one, or hope, in the least degree, to understand? 
We may gather from the Inspired Word that in those 

* Van de Velde's " Journey through Syria and Palestine." 



38 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

days, when heaven came down to earth, and the two 
were blended as never before, and never to be again, 
■ — that then a general agitation occurred, and spirits 
gave demonstrations of presence and power, in de- 
moniacs and the possessed, to which the world at 
other times had been a stranger, and which have 
never been repeated since. The Scriptures tell us 
of a time yet to be, when the powers of heaven shall be 
shaken; Christ coming to judge ; — a time far less 
wonderful than this period, when he was on the earth, 
God manifest, but in humility for man's redemption 
to be effected in the cross. Who shall object in these 
matters? Yv T ho dare gainsay concerning things be- 
yond our comprehension, when we cannot understand 
ourselves ? Men are indeed but children — the oldest 
and wisest in the world, but children — when put in 
comparison with the supernatural world, where, with 
God, " a thousand years are but as yesterday ;" and 
where, among the infinites, our imaginations strive in 
vain for a resting-place for observation, and so turn 
quickly back to earth wearied and overwhelmed. 

Therefore humility is now our rational and our 
better part ; and, with such a sense of our condition 
we have repeatedly to gaze on the scenes recorded in 
the Gospels, not comprehending them, and compelled 
to be satisfied with present ignorance. It was a time, 
we may believe, when " the powers of heaven " and 
of hell "were shaken ;" as they never otherwise had 
been ; and our earth, the scene of action, had to wit- 
ness unusual sights. 

Then, when tfyese scenes of the temptation in the 
wilderness of Judea pass in those strange, shadowy 
forms before us, half revealed in the Gospels, half 



At the Jordan — the Deputation. 39 

hidden — we gaze in wonder, but we acquiesce in not 
understanding more. How could we fully under- 
stand ? 

Saint Paul, through the power of inspiration, tells 
us, " In all things it behoved Him to be made like 
unto his. brethren, that he might be a merciful and 
faithful high priest f and that " "We have not a high 
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our 
infirmities ; but was in all points tempted as we are 
yet without sin f and the temptations in the wilder- 
ness appear to have been suited to the higher spiritual 
character of the tempted. There were three of them, 
applied to those feelings which are the most powerful 
in our own nature, — to ambition, to vanity, and to 
bodily want ; each applied in this case in a concen- 
trated form ; but each in vain. But we cease to argue 
in matters so evidently above our reason ; we will 
wait patiently till we may merge into the supernatu- 
ral, and no longer see u through a glass darkly," but 
"shall know even as we are known." 



CHAPTER IY. 

AT THE JORDAN — THE DEPUTATION. 

John was still baptizing at the Jordan, still utter- 
ing his call to repent, " for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand;" and still the excitement concerning him 

° Hebrews ii. 17 ; iv. 15. 



40 Life Scenes from the Four Gospels. 

was continuing : the public wonder and curiosity in- 
deed was on the increase. The Sanhedrim at Jerusa- 
lem were presently stirred up to take official action 
in his case. 

This body, owiSpiov. assembly, consisted of seventy 
persons, with tiie addition of the high-priest as presi- 
dent ; and were from the following classes of per- 
sons : 1. Ex-high-priest ; 2. Heads of the twenty -four 
classes of high-priests, called, by way of honor, chief- 
priests : 3. Such of the elders, i. e., princes of the 
tribes, heads of family associations, as were elected 
to this place, or put there by a nomination from the 
ruling executive authority j and, 4. Appointments in 
a similar way from the scribes and learned men.* It 
was required of these men that they should be relig- 
ous, and learned in the arts and language ; that they 
should have some skill in physic, arithmetic, astrono- 
my and astrology ; also to know what belonged to 
magic, sorcery and idolatry, so as to know how to 
judge them. They were to be without maim or blem- 
ish j men of years, but not extremely old j and to be 
fathers of families, that they might be acquainted 
with tenderness and compassion. Their times for 
sitting were from the end of the morning service to 
the beginning of the evening service, but might be 
prolonged till the night, if necessary for concluding 
any business commenced during the day ; but no new 
business could be undertaken in the night. Their 
place of assembling was in a room by the courts of the 
Temple, and was so arranged that a portion of it pro- 
jected into the priests' court, in order that it might 
partake of the sanctity of the place ; and part was 

Jahn's Archaeology. 



At the Jordan— the Deputation. 41 

outside of it, so that the members could sit in the 
council, which no one could do in the court of the 
priests, except a king.* The first mention of the San- 
hedrim is about the year B. C. 69 ; it is supposed to 
have had its origin in the Council of 70 Elders ap- 
pointed by Moses at Sinai, (Numbers xi. 16-24.) It 
had the power to judge all persons and all matters 
not left to inferior courts, a whole tribe, a prophet, 
the high-priest, and even a king himself if there were 
occasion.? 

In every city there was a smaller tribunal of the 
judges and Levites for slighter cases : also a tribunal 
of 23 judges (synagogue tribunals, Johnxvi. 2,) which 
tried questions of a religious nature. 

The Sanhedrim felt now that it had become of the 
highest consequence to settle the important questions 
concerning John, which were agitating the public 
mind. There might have been fears of tumults, 
when the Roman power would have interfered, as it 
had done before, with vengeance upon the nation, if 
the whole course of things at the Jordan had not been 
so orderly and regular : moreover, the ascetic had never 
put himself forward as a leader, but had proclaimed 
himself secondary to another. People, however, be. 
lieved him to be a prophet, and the excitement was 
the greater from the lapse of centuries since a prophet 
had appeared. A wonderful prophet too he seemed to 
be, with this most extraordinary annunciation ; also in- 
troducing a great revolution, by initiating the crowds 
flocking to him into a new system of religion. He had 
given offence to the two leading sects in Judea by his 
invective hurled upon them as a brood of vipers, but the 

° Li^hii^ot'on the Temple. -J- Jahn's Archeology. 



42 Life Scenes from the Four Gospels. 

people felt its justice and admired his boldness : — the 
impression was growing, everywhere, that lie was 
something beyond a mortal like themselves ; — that he 
was Elias (Elijah), or Jeremiah, risen from the dead ; 
and, among some, — misinterpreting his declarations 
to the contrary, — that he was the Messiah himself. 
The Pharisees believed that the power of baptizing 
Jews, and thereby forming a new religion, was to be 
confined to the Messiah and his precursors, the pro- 
phets, who they supposed would return to life for 
this purpose ; and although it was true that John's 
ancestry did not fully agree with the requirements of 
their ancient prophets respecting the Christ, yet his 
mother was of the lineage of David ; and although in 
addition, his place of birth had not been at Bethle- 
hem, still it was not fully determined among the doc- 
tors that the Messiah must be born there." So there 
was room for discussion among the Sanhedrim even 
on the question whether John might not be the Mes- 
siah himself. 

Therefore this national council, taking Pharisees, 
who were also priests and Levites,f for their de- 
putation, sent them to John.! The Jewish rulers 

c " See Bloomfield in loco. f John i, 19 ; ,i, 24. 

% John i, 19. It is well to remark here on a circumstance in St. 
John's Gospel, of which I have seen no notice among critics, ex- 
cept Alford, although it is an important one. It is the distinc- 
tion which the Evangelist appears to make between "the Jews " 
and " the people." By the former he seems to mean the leaders ; 
by the latter, the masses. There is a striking example of this in ch. 
vii, v. 13, when the people (v. 12) were querying about Christ, 
"but no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews." The 
same distinction seems to he kept up uniformly in John, except 
where the term Jew is used as a distinctive national one. 

We have something like it when we use the words, " the Eng- 



At the Jordan— the Deputation. 43 

were almost exclusively Pharisees, or persons pro- 
fessing to be such ; and that sect was more particu- 
larly interested in the proceedings at the Jordan ; for 
their power lay in their influence over the masses of 
the people ; the only instrument they could oppose to 
their rivals the smaller but wealthier sect of the Sad- 
ducees ; and the masses were drawn powerfully to this 
prophet at the Jordan. 

The origin of both these leading sects is unknown, 
and we have no distinct traces of them previous to 
the Ptolemies, (B. C. 332J about which time the oral 
or traditional law also comes before our notice. The 
Pharisees were the advocates and conservators of 
this ; the Sadducees opposed it, adhering only to the 
written law. The Pharisees believed " that souls 
have an immortal vigor in them, and that under the 
earth there will be rewards and punishments, accord- 
ingly as they have lived, virtuously Or viciously, in 
this life ; and the latter are to be detained in an ever- 
lasting prison, but that the former shall have the 
power to revive and live again. "* The Sadducees 
asserted " that souls die with the bodies;", and in 
this opposition of belief on vital points we have at 
once the groundwork of endless £ disputes between 
these sects. % The Sadducees, however, were content 
to keep their cold philosophy to themselves, and sel- 
dom attempted to make proselytes ; but they were 
the wealthy men, and prided themselves on their 
superior wisdom and higher philosophy ; to which 

lish," and the " English people," meaning by the former a kind of 
abstraction of the rulers, or the sentiment seen in their government, 
and by the latter, the masses. 
c Jahn's Archaeology. 



44 Life Scenes from the Four Gospels. 

the Pharisees opposed an affected sanctimoniousness 
which drew to them the multitudes, over whom they 
had great influence, and by whom they more than 
counterbalanced the power in wealth "belonging to 
their opponents. So domineering, indeed, was their 
influence in the nation in consequence of their suc- 
cessful zeal in making and keeping proselytes among 
the masses, that when a Sadducce had to take office, 
(which that sect did unwillingly), he was compelled, 
for his own comfort, to assume the character and 
pretend to the belief of the Pharisees. The latter 
had in the unwritten law, as we shall see, by and by, 
an immense power, capable of bearing down any ad- 
versary who might oppose them, especially among 
the ignorant. With all this courting of popular 
favor, they, however, thoroughly despised the popu- 
lace, and called them in their writings " worms," 
"people of the earth ;" and, with other opprobrious 
epithets, refused heaven to them, declaring, that " he 
who has not studied is never pious."* They affected 
a great outward show of religion, ostentatiously 
standing while at prayer, (standing was the usual 
Jewish posture in prayer,) at the corners of the 
streets, so as to be seen in two directions ; and some- 
times commencing a prayer at one place and going 
to finish it at another. They made broad their phy- 
lacteries (written passages of Scripture, folded up and 
bound to the forehead and arm), and in their dress had 
an ostentation of a similar kind. They were so fearful 
of contamination that they would not eat with their 
own people, if holding the unpopular office of tax- 
gatherers ; and were disposed to spurn from their 
e Lightfoot. 



At the Job dan— the Deputation. 45 

presence all who were not of their own sect ;* nor 
would they drink until the water had been strained, 
lest they might inadvertently swallow some unclean 
animalcules. With all this, they enjoined no inter- 
nal righteousness, substituting externals for it : forms 
took the place of holiness : an omission to wash the 
hands before meat was considered worthy of death, no 
matter what iniquity might be in the heart : and they 
had brought the Jewish people into disrepute abroad 
as a nation of perjurers,? by teaching that an oath by 
the altar, temple, heaven, earth, sacrifices, &c, &c, 
was of small, if any, obligation, unless the name of 
God had been introduced. They were divided into sev- 
eral subordinate sects ; and the Jewish official books, 
the Talmud s, mention several distinct classes, under 
characters which show them to have been deeply im- 
mersed in the idlest and most ridiculous superstitions. 
Among them were the Truncated Pharisee, who, that 
he might appear in profound meditation, as if desti- 
tute of feet, scarcely lifted them from the ground ; 
the Mortar Pharisee, who, that his meditations might 
not be disturbed, wore a deep cap, in the shape of a 
mortar, that would only permit him to look on the 
ground at his feet ; and the Striking Pharisee, who, 
shutting his eyes as he walked to avoid the sight of 
women, often struck his head against the wall4 

Such were the men who came now, in the authority 
of office, to settle the questions which had been dis- 
cussed for weeks with deepest earnestness in Jerusa- 
lem and throughout all Judea and the regions be- 
yond ; — questions of momentous interest, but to which 
no one could yet give a satisfactory reply. It was 

° Jahn's Archeology, f Martial's Epigrams, xi. 95. J Bioornfield. 



46 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

known that John had made disclaimers of any high 
position ; but still the public mind was agitated ; for 
with these disclaimers, he was yet performing a rite 
belonging only to the old prophets risen again or to 
the Messiah : so, at least, they always believed. 

The crowds saw the officials approaching, and 
could easily surmise who they were, and why they 
came. All knew that it was among the duties of the 
Sanhedrim to inquire officially into the pretensions of 
any one setting himself up as a prophet ; and here 
were the inquisitors come to do that work. The im- 
portant queries which had so agitated the multitudes 
there, but which they had shrunk from putting to the 
Baptist, would, perhaps, be answered at last. 

The crowds gave way. Probably, in those haughty 
looks of the Pharisees they could read their own con- 
demnation for being captivated by one not officially 
recognized, and not a Rabbi ; their old reverence for 
priest and Levite, and additionally for Pharisees, con- 
servators of the unwritten law with its mysterious, un- 
defined power, crept through their hearts again, as 
they saw these men approach, — perhaps there to over- 
whelm all the Baptist's claims, and to hurl on them- 
selves objurgations or even excommunications for having 
submitted to the new rite. — And the deputation came 
in a manner to make impression of their authority, and 
to procure full and ready answers to their questions : 
— the phylacteries upon their brows and arms, and 
with the wide fringes to their robes, as became Phari- 
sees and men of rank. We must give attention to 
them, and we notice, first the phylacteries, an awk- 
ward appendage, but which habit made less so to 
them. To construct a phylactery, four pieces of parch- 



At the Jordan — the Deputation. 47 

ment were taken, on which, with a particular kind of 
ink, were written four passages from the law, Ex. 
xiii, 3-10 : Ex. xiii, 11-16 : Deut. vi, 4-9 : Dent, xi, 
13-21. These four pieces were folded together in a 
square form, and inserted into a leather case, from 
which proceeded thongs of the same material. One 
of these cases was laid on the forehead between the 
eye-brows ; and the thongs, being passed behind the 
head, were tied there in a particular manner, and then 
came round to the breast. The other was laid on the 
inside of the left arm, at the elbow, and fastened there 
by the thongs, one of which was wound spirally along 
the arm, and so, crossing the palm of the hand, was 
fastened to the fingers. The usage was founded on 
Ex. xiii, 9. The name phylactery is from the Greek, 
and signifies observatory, because it put them in mind 
of the law. In process of time the phylacteries came 
to be considered as a protection against evil spirits, 
and the Talmud says, " It is necessary that the phylacter- 
ies should be repeated at home at nights to drive away 
devils."* It is not certain whether all the Jewish peo- 
ple wore them, or only those who were called scholars, 
and who pretended to more knowledge and devotion and 
study than the common people ;t but all, both learned 
and unlearned, were bound alike to say over the phy- 
lactery sentences, morning and evening, every day, no 
matter where they were. The time for this was at 
earliest dawn, and in the evenings some time before 
the first watch. t Our Saviour condemns the width of 
the phylacteries, made for ostentation and vanity . The 
modern Jews, it is, said, wear them at morning and 
evening prayers. 

o Lightfoot. f lb. t Ib - 



48 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

This deputation approached, not over confident of a 
favorable reception, knowing as they did the Baptist's 
address to their Pharisee brethren on the former oc- 
casion : and now there was a striking scene : — that 
gaunt, sunburnt man, in his coarse dress of camel's 
hair bound by a leathern girdle, his unabashed man- 
ner before the officers, and his fiery eyes seeming to 
pierce them through ; — their own stateliness and effort 
at ease and assurance, while their pretension to sanc- 
tity, and the authoritiveness of office were impressing 
the crowd ;—- the multitudes glancing from the new, 
admired favorite to their old, feared masters ; and 
back again to the fearless John. 

" Who art thou ?" they asked. 

The words were authoritative and abrupt. He an- 
swered, not to their question, but to what he knew was 
in every person's mind. 

"I am not the Christ." 

" What art thou, then, Elias t } 

" I am not." 

" Art thou that prophet ?"* 

"No." 

"Who art thou? — that we may give an answer to 
them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?" 

" I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. 
Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet 
Esaias :" (the reply having allusion to a custom pre- 
vailing in those eastern countries, when a monarch was 
about to make a journey ; at which times men were 
sent before to remove obstructions and to make level 
the roads). 



° h is supposed that they referred to Jeremiah. (See Deut. x 
15-19 and Matt, xvi, 14. 



At the Jordan — the Deputation. 49 

" Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, 
nor Elias, nor that prophet?" 

" I baptize with water : but there stand eth one 
among you, whom ye know not ; he it is, who coming 
after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet 
I am not worthy to unloose.' 7 

Among them ! ! And all interest in the officials and 
in John himself must have been lost, as men started, 
and turned inquiring glances among the crowd, mak- 
ing scrutiny for him about whom the astounding an- 
nouncement had been made. No one could doubt 
that John meant by this, The Christ, the great Mes- 
siah that had been promised to the world. That was 
their answer, and such the intelligence that the emis- 
saries might carry back to Jerusalem, and to the San- 
hedrim. 

Curiosity was at its utmost tension now : and the 
next day, as the crowds were watching John with a 
closeness of attention that they had never exercised 
before, they heard irom him a sudden announcement — 

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
sin of the world !'' The multitudes turned quickly ; — 

Was that the Christ ! 

He came with no pomp, but quietly among them : 
no earthly parade of power, no attendance ; not even 
scholastic state, and disciples following him : but 
alone, in simplicity of dress and simplicity of man- 
ner. — His kingdom was not of this world. 

But the multitudes might have noticed the won- 
derful dignity and majesty on that brow ; the quiet 
composure of manner, where conscious omnipotence 
calmly rested j the winningness of features, where un- 
bounded love drew the lines, and fully impressed it- 
I 



50 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels.- 

self; and ; when he spake, the modulations of his 
yoice, where gentleness and benevolence ruled, al- 
though, at times that voice could take the impressive 
tones of command. 

Jorin described to the earnest listeners how the 
demonstration of the Messiah ship had been made to 
himself, including the announcement from heaven, 
"The same is he which baptizeth with the Holy 
Ghost." He ended with proclaiming to the gazing, 
earnest, wondering "multitude, thrilled with so many 
hopes — "And I saw and bare record, that This is 
the Son of God." 



CHAPTER V. 

CONDITION OF PALESTINE. 

The Messiah had come : but before following him 
in his wonderful ministry, it is necessary, in order to 
have a clear comprehension of it, to endeavor to fa- 
miliarize ourselves with the country where this min- 
istry was to be exercised, and the people who were 
to be its immediate recipients. 

The two ranges of mountains, Lebanon and Anti- 
lebanon, keep parallel with each other, and with the 
eastern coast of the Mediterranean for a distance of 
150 miles, when, finally, Anti-lebanon shoots up into 
the majestic Hermon, rising to 9376* feet above the 

tt Survey by Majors Scott and Pope. 



Condition of Palestine. 51 

sea, and covered nearly all the year with snow. 
Both mountains then subside into much lower eleva- 
tions, which uniting, continue southward till at last 
they sink and disappear in the level of the sandy 
deserts of Arabia. The region between the southern 
extremity of Lebanon and the Hermon (lat. 33° 30 ') 
on the north, and the border of the Arabian deserts 
(31° 10') on the south, with the Jordan and its line 
of lakes on the east, and the Mediterranean on the 
west, is, in modern times, often designated as Pales- 
tine ; and such in this book will be the use of the 
word. It is an extent of country about 170 statute 
miles in length, by a mean width of 50 miles ; the 
hills running north and south are not continuous, but 
have an important interruption in the great plain of 
Esdraeldon (about lat. 32° 30 ') crossing their course ; 
and another in the valley at Shechem, with others of 
minor consequence : while also just south of Carmel, 
in lat. 32° 40 ', commences the plain of Sharon, which, 
from that point southwardly, forms a wide border be- 
tween the hills and the Mediterranean. The region 
between this plain of Sharon and the desert border- 
ing on the Jordan and the Dead Sea, forms what, 
in Scripture, is called " The Hill country of Judea." 
A cross section, from west to east, at Jerusalem, 
would give us : 1st, the plain of Sharon, 17 miles 
wide ; 2d, the hill country, 20 miles ; and 3d, the 
desert, 15 in width, and then the great depression 
of the valley of the Jordan.* If, leaving Pales- 
tine, we continue across the river, we come immedi- 
ately to the very lofty, wall-like range of Nebo, 

* These measurements are from Van de Velde'c trigonometrical 
surveys in Syria and Palestine. 



52 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

beyond which, eastward Iy, is a hilly pastoral region, 
never thickly inhabited, and at present little known. 

Palestine was thus a country of small extent, and 
singularly situated ; quite central to what was the 
civilized world in those ancient times, and therefore 
well adapted to be a radiating point of divine know- 
ledge ; and yet, by these northern, mountains, by the 
Arabian desert, by the western sea, and by the pastoral 
region on the east, almost isolated, and little open to 
corrupting influences from heathen neighbors. It had 
no safe harbor along its whole coast, until Herod the 
Great, at immense cost, formed one midway along ; 
building there, also, his political capital, Csesarea, 
named after his patron, Augustus. This was settled 
immediately by a motley population of Syrians and 
Greeks chiefly, as well as Jews : and from this mix- 
ture sprung, finally, the troubles which eventuated in 
the destruction of Jerusalem itself.* 

At the time of which we are now writing, Palestine 
was divided into three nearly equal portions : the 
northern, Galilee ; the central, Samaria ; and the 
southern, Judea ; each, with its distinctive and peculiar 
people, although those of Galilee and Judea went under 
the general appellation of Jews. A full understand- 
ing of the New Testament history requires that we 
should take some notice of the history of each. 

When Canaan was first parceled out among the 
tAvelve tribes, the large tribe of Judah had assigned 
to it the chief portion of what afterwards became 
Judea : while Ephraim had most of Avhat was subse- 
quently Samaria, the two being separated by the small 
tribe of Benjamin wedged between them on the east, 

* See Jos. Antiq. xx, 8, § 9. 



The Condition op Palestine. 53 

and by the equally diminutive region of Dan on the 
west. Benjamin, however, though small, was com- 
posed of a bold and energetic set of people : it gave 
Saul, as the first king of Israel ; and afterwards, Paul, 
the greatest of the Christian leaders; and among the 
earliest martyrs for Christ. 

Judah and Ephraim, from their large size and their 
position, soon took the lead among the tribes, and also 
became jealous of each other :* and finally (B. C. 976) 
their rivalship culminated in a separation of the tribes ; 
Benjamin alone adhering to Judah, while all the others 
went off and became a kingdom by themselves, Eph- 
raim, in this, taking the lead. Its main city, Shechem, 
in the valley of Samaria, unsurpassed in fertility and 
loveliness, became the capital of its new king. Among 
these people, a semi-idolatrous religion soon took the 
place of the old Mosaic faith. Two hundred and fifty- 
five years after this (B. C. 721) #ie ten tribes were 
carried into captivity by Shalmanezer, king of Assyria • 
and their existence became eventually blotted out from 
history. The exceedingly fertile plain of Ephraim and 
its borders on the north, being rapidly covered with 
jungle, was becoming overrun with wild-beasts, when 
Shalmanezer sent colonists from Babylonia and other 
parts of his eastern dominions to occupy it, with whom 
a few of the former inhabitants, who had been left be- 
hind, united : and thus was formed the distinct and 
very peculiar race of the Samaritans, retaining in part 
their eastern heathenism, and partly imbued with ihe 
questionable religion of the ten tribes. 

One hundred thirty-three years after the captivity of 
the ten tribes, (B. C. 588) Judah and Benjamin were 
also led captive to the cast, Jerusalem having been 

* See also Isaiah xi, 3. 



5-i Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

taken by Nebuchadnezzar, and their temple destroyed. 
Chaldea, now the ruling power in the east, had become 
the possessor of all Palestine. But this captivity did 
not long continue ; for Cyrus, the Persian, having taken 
Babylon, (B. C. 536) gave these two tribes permission 
to return to Palestine and to rebuild their temple, the 
sacred vessels of which he also restored. Some of the 
Jews, comparatively few in number, remained in Baby- 
lon, while the others hastened back to their country : 
but during this time of their absence changes of im- 
portance among themselves had occurred. Their orig- 
inal language had ceased to be a spoken one. 

The Hebrew had, for a long time, been declining in 
its purity. The period about the time of Moses is 
called by critics its golden age ; that between David 
and Hezekiah, its silver age. From Hezekiah to the 
captivity it had deteriorated so much by the further 
introduction of foreign terms, that its iron age is 
placed in that period ; and during the captivity it 
ceased to be a spoken language at all.* Not that 
the transition had been very great. The dialects 
spoken all over the East had a general similitude, so 
great that the designation used by the Hebrews for 
very remote nations was that these did not understand 
their language. f But still the change, during this 
stay in Babylon, was such that, generally, they could 
not any longer understand the Hebrew Scriptures 
when read in their religious assemblies ; and al- 
though the original was still used in public worship, 
properly qualified persons had to be employed to 
give immediately a translation into the vernacular.^ 

° Jabn's Introduction to the Old Testament, § G9. 

f Deut. xxviii, 49, and Jer. v, 15. % See Nehemiah viii, 8. 



The Condition of Palestine. 55 

The new dialect which the people brought home with 
them was the Aramean — sometimes called Syro-Chal- 
daic — and was the language of Palestine in our Sav- 
iour's time. 

But there were differences also in this dialect. 
The places of captivity had stretched along the Eu- 
phrates, where the Chaldee and Syriac dialects were 
in use. On their return, those using the former set- 
tled in Judea, the others in Galilee ;* and hence a 
difference of speech, by which a Galilean was speed- 
ily recognized as such by the dwellers further south. 

The Jews had permission from Cyrus to rebuild 
also the wall around their city ; and they came back 
with hearts full of zeal and of joy at the royal favor, 
in both of which the Samaritans would have gladly 
shared. But these people were repelled as a half- 
heathenish race ; and immediately a settled feud be- 
gan, which has continued down to the present time. 
The Samaritans endeavored to excite jealousies in 
the Persian monarch respecting the repairs in the 
city walls, and for some time with success ; but they 
finally ceased from such opposition, and established 
rival services, building also a rival temple on the 
mount Gerizim, which rises immediately above their 
capital city, Shechem, and which, with its opposite 
mountain, Ebal, had been the scene of a most singu- 
lar event in the ancient times of Israel. There, after 
Canaan had been conquered, had been gathered the 
twelve tribes, one-half placed on Gerizim to bless, 
and half on Ebal to curse ; — indeed, what region is 
there in all the country of Palestine that has not wit- 
nessed strange and wonderful events ? To us, also, 
* Jahn's Introduction. 



56 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

there is a standing miracle in the fulfillment of the 
words of Moses, when, after commanding the full as- 
semblage to take place on Ebal and Gerizim, he 
added, that if they and their posterity would not ob- 
serve God's commandment, they should become " an 
astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all 
nations," whither the Lord should lead them.* The 
Maccabean, Hyrcanus, destroyed this temple (B. C. 
108), and annexed the whole Samaritan country to the 
Jewish nation ; and the bitterness from subjugation 
was then added to the former hatred and jealousies. 
The Samaritans, while receiving the Pentateuch, re- 
jected all the other Jewish Scriptures ; and were, 
therefore, still considered by the Jews as only a more 
dangerous set of heathen. What a Samaritan ate as 
food became, from that fact, as swine's flesh in the 
eyes of a Jew ; no Samaritan might be made a prose- 
lyte ; no one of them could by any possibility, in 
Jewish estimation, attain to everlasting life. 
' This was the country lying between the two Jewish 
districts of Galilee and Judea. and which had to be 
passed over in the frequent journeys between the 
two, unless a large detour was made across the Jor- 
dan and along its eastern banks. 

The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, after their 
return from captivity, still formed a part of the Per- 
sian kingdom, and were heavily taxed for its support. 
Their temple had been rebuilt, (commenced B. C. 535.) 
bat Jerusalem remained without walls, until the in- 
crease of the Greek power made it necessary .to op- 
pose obstacles to the extension of that nation. Then 
Nehecniahwas empowered by the Persian government 

* See Deut. xi, 29; xxvii. 12-26 ; xxviii. 



Condition of Palestine. 57 

to fortify the city ; but lie had to clo it by stealth, 
and at night, as the jealousies of the neighboring 
slates, particularly Samaria, were ever throwing ob- 
stacles in the way.. The Persian nation finally suc- 
cumbed before Alexander, and the Jews passed qui- 
etly into the power of that universal conqueror (B. C. 
332,) and through him, afterwards, of the Ptolemies. 
They lived under successive kings of this race, gener- 
ally oppressed, and often treated with great cruelty, till 
Antiochus Epiphanes, the Illustrious or the Madman, 
— for he had both these surnames, — fearing (B. C. 
167) that they might seek relief from his tyranny in 
the increasing power of Rome already triumphant in 
Egypt, determined to wipe out their distinctive char- 
acter, and entirely destroy their individuality as a 
nation. He let loose his soldiers on the Sabbath 
upon the unresisting Jewish people, and encouraged 
a general massacre : the streets of Jerusalem ran 
with blood : the women were carried off into slavery : 
he ordered a general uniformity of religion in all hfs 
dominions ; forced the people to profane the Sabbath, 
and to eat swine's flesh, and forbade the national rite 
of circumcision. He dedicated their temples to Ju- 
piter, placed an image of that god on their high 
altar, and ordered sacrifices to be there made to the 
Olympian deity ; and, finally, substituted the Baccha- 
nalian rites for their great feast of tabernacles. Re- 
sistance only led to slaughter : barbarities and out- 
rage had full possession of the land. 

The Maccabean family* now rose into eminence, 

° " Asmonean family" properly, but better known by the name 
of Maccabean, supposed to be derived from a standard which they 
bore. 

2* 



58 Life scenes from the Four Gospels. 

first by slight resistance ; then, after gathering 
strength, by heading a general revolt ; and, finally, 
(B.C.. 144,) by establishing the complete indepen- 
dence of the Jewish nation. The alliance of Rome 
was sought for, and secured ; and, finally, under 
Hyrcanus, Samaria, as already stated, and Galilee on 
the north, and Idumea on the south, were (B. C. 108) 
brought into subjection to the triumphant kingdom 
of Judea. But a new power — the Roman — was 
spreading around, soon to absorb the Judean king- 
dom, as it did the rest of the world. In the case of 
Judea, Rome followed its usual successful policy of 
insinuating itself into nations through their intestine 
disputes. Two competitors for the Jewish throne, 
Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, both of the Maccabean 
family, asserted their claims, and appealed to Pompey 
(B. C. 64) as the umpire ; he ended by seizing on the 
kingdom ; and from that time, although for twenty 
years there were resistances, and various bloody revo- 
lutions, Judea was under control of the Roman em- 
pire. Antipater, an Idumean of noble birth, profit- 
ing adroitly by these dissensions, had, as the sup- 
porter of Hyrcanus, risen into distinction ; and at 
last, having procured from Rome the High Priesthood 
for his favorite, he was himself made Procurator of 
Judea. He was the father of Herod the Great, and 
appointed this son as governor of Galilee. The 
latter, after various reverses subsequently to his 
father's death, had the crown of Judea conferred upon 
himself by Augustus and Antony (B. C. 39 ;) and 
having, with the assistance of the Romans, rid that 
country and Samaria of all competitors, and freed 
Galilee from the bands of robbers that had infested 



Condition of Palestine. 59 

it, he found himself, though still subordinate to 
Rome, firmly seated on the throne of Palestine. 

He was a man of extraordinary energies of mind 
and body. He rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, strength- 
ened them with towers of great size and beauty, made 
for himself on Mount Zion a palace of vast extent and 
architectural magnificence, and completed the walls 
around Moriah, producing on that eminence a level 
platform of great elevation •* thus making it a vast 
mountainous substructure for supporting the cloisters 
and temple with which he proposed to crown its 
heights. The temple erected by Zerubbabel 500 
years before, had suffered greatly from wars and the 
lapse of time ; but the Jews looked with keen jeal- 
ousy on any plans for its demolition ; and it was only 
by making large preparations of materials ready for 
the new edifice, previous to commencing any changes, 
that Herod could keep their apprehensions within 
bounds. The new temple and cloisters, built by 
Herod will be noticed in a future chapter of tins 
book. The amazing sums necessary for his outlays 
for architectural and warlike purposes were procured 
partly by heavy extortions from his people ; and came 
partly by contributions from Jews, scattered now 
over nearly the whole civilized world. The constant 
drain of wealth always tending towards Jerusalem 
was the cause of serious apprehensions, even at Rome. 
Pompey found 2,000 talentst in the treasury of the 
temple at the time of his visit : Crassus plundered it 

" Josephus says 450 feet at the spot of the smallest elevation ; 
600 feet at the greatest, i. e., at the eastern side, but this is consid- 
ered an exaggeration. 

f A talent of silver was worth $1,505 ; of gold, $24,000. 



00 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

of 10.000 talents ; and both these incidents occurred 
at times when Jerusalem was also constantly sub- 
ject to visits from plundering hordes. 

But while indulging the national feeling in thus 
ornamenting the city and its sacred mountain, Herod 
was trying to undermine the national faith, by for- 
eign usages and amusements. " He built a theatre 
within the walls of Jerusalem, and an amphitheatre 
of immense size without. He celebrated quinquennial 
games on a scale of unrivalled splendor ; invited the 
most distinguished proficients in every kind of gym- 
nastic exercise, in chariot racing, boxing, and every 
kind of musical and poetic art ; offered the most cost- 
ly prizes ; and even introduced the barbarous specta- 
cles of the Romans, fights of wild beasts, and also 
combats of wild beasts with gladiators. The zeal- 
ous Jews looked on in amazement, and with praise- 
worthy though silent abhorence, at those strange ex- 
hibitions, so contrary to the mild genius of the great 
law-giver's institutions."* 

Herod was, as already stated, from Idumea. When 
that country was added by Hyrcanus to Judca, the 
inhabitants were compelled to adopt the Jewish faith. 
But such a forced proselytism left the Idumeans still 
semi-pagan in belief; and hence we see the doubtful 
Judaism in Herod. He married, both from policy 
and affection, the beautiful Mariamnc, a princess of 
the Maccabean family ; but he failed still to secure 
the confidence of the Jews. 

Judea was, even during Herod's magnificent reign, 
fast becoming a Roman province ; its independence 
and the glory of the Maccabean dynasty had depart- 

° Milman's History of the Jews. 



Condition- of Palestine. 61 

eel. Herod, after a life of daring and successful am- 
bition, and of domestic wretchedness, died, leaving ? 
by will, his kingdom divided between his two sons, 
Herod Antipas and Archelaus ; to the former Galilee 
and Perea ; to the latter, Samaria, Judea, and Idu- 
mea. Archelaus went immediately to Rome to have 
his limited kingship confirmed ; and there met Herod 
Antipas, preferring a counter-claim under a former 
will of their father, made, it was asserted, when he 
was in a saner state of mind. While they were absent 
contesting their claims, both regions of country fell 
into confusion ; and the Prefect of Syria, residing at 
Antioch, had to interfere, the wretched people being 
plundered and abused on every side. A deputation 
of five hundred Jews went to Rome to petition for the 
total abolition of the kingly government and the res- 
titution of their ancient constitution ; and were joined 
in this by eight thousand of their countrymen resident 
in that city. Herod's will was, however, confirmed 
by the imperial edict, and Archelaus took possession 
of his government: but his sovereignty, marked by 
injustice and cruelty, after continuing for nine years, 
was suddenly brought to a conclusion by a summons to 
Rome : his brothers and subjects were his accusers ; he 
was condemned and banished to Yienne, in Gaul, and 
his kingdom (A. D. 12) reduced to a Roman province. 
P. Sulpicius Quirinius was now made Prefect, or gov- 
ernor-general of Syria, all Palestine coming under his 
jurisdiction ; and Coponius, a man of equestrian rank, 
was appointed governor of Judea. To the latter, 
two years afterwards, succeeded M. Ambivius : then 
came Annius Rufus : next (A. D. 16) Valerius Gra- 
tus, and finally (A. D. 27) Pontius Pilate. Jerusalem 



02 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

itself had sunk, during the rule of these governors, into 
secondary political consequence, the residence of the 
governors being at Csesarea, a magnificent city on its 
seaboard, built by Herod the Great : but the people, 
since the time of Archelaus, had enjoyed an unusual 
state of rest. This history, necessarily brief, can give 
the reader scarcely any conception of the disorders, 
tumults, exactions, and cruelties — often barbarities, 
to which the people of Palestine had been subjected, 
through nearly the whole of this long period of time. 
The government was now unequivocally Roman : 
Pilate was over Judea as Procurator, and Herod An- 
tipas Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea ; — both subject 
to the Proconsul of Syria ; the Jewish laws and insti- 
tutions, so far as they did not conflict with the Ro- 
man, were still left in force, the power of inflicting 
capital punishment being the only exception ; that 
being reserved for the representatives of Rome. Such 
was the political condition of Palestine when our 
Saviour's public ministry commenced. 



CHAPTER VI. 

JEWISH MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 

The captivity had wrought one very remarkable 
change in the Jewish character : — it had cured them 
of their disposition towards idolatry. It may seem 
strange that there had ever been such inclinations 



Jewish Manners and Customs. 63 

among a people distinguished, as they had been, by 
signal manifestations of God's power for them ; who 
had his law in their hands ; and who knew both the 
sternness of his prohibitions against this wickedness, 
and his irrevocable purposes for punishing it. But 
the whole world around them was given to idolatry : 
and they found it difficult to spiritualize even their 
own grand and wonderful system ; while, among all 
other nations, religion was sensuous, that is, directed 
to the outer senses, which could more easily compre- 
hend the nature and demands of such belief. To look 
inward and bind the soul to God, making it, while 
on earth, a part of the kingdom which is not of this 
world, is the highest act of our being : and the Jews 
had not only not attained to this, but had a very im- 
perfect idea of what it could mean. When just re- 
leased from Egypt, they were ignorant, and they had, 
for long years, been brutalized by slavery. God, 
compassionating their ignorance and weakness, allow- 
ed them a religious system in some respects sensuous, 
but, in every item, typifying the unseen ; that is the 
tabernacle, the ark, the table of show-bread, the can- 
dlestick, the altar of incense, the mercy-seat, the 
cherubim, the golden ornaments, the purple hangings, 
the Urim and Thummim, in which he condescended to 
make himself especially known and felt. So after- 
wards, also with the temple on Mount Moriah, hon- 
ored as no other temple has ever been. But they re- 
garded only the exterior ; and by their own want of 
effort and by their worldliness, that which was meant 
to guide them to look within and then up to God, led 
them to the further sensuousness of their neighbors, 
often of the grossest kind. 



64 Life-scenes from the Foup. Gospels. 

Temple, altar, cherubim, Urim and Thummim, — all 
were swept away by the Assyrian conqueror ; and 
only blackened ruins remained behind in their stead. 

In their captivity they had to look more directly 
to God ; and they did it in mournings and humilia- 
tions, such as well befitted them, after so many vile 
apostasies in their own land. 

"When they returned there was a great change and 
great improvement in these outward things. They 
had now the proseuchce and synagogues all over the 
land. The proseucha was a place of prayer, a sim- 
ple, open space, without ostentation or ornament, but 
generally in a spot outside of their cities or towns, 
shaded by trees. Here the traveller or the resident 
could bow in soul, in God's great temple not made 
with hands ; and, feeling that Jehovah was present, 
could lift up his voice and heart to him. The syna- 
gogues were places of more formal worship, and were 
soon in general use ; there being, it is said, in Jeru- 
salem alone, not less than four hundred and eighty 
during its later times. The worship in these was 
doubtless more of a spiritual nature than that in the 
temple itself ; and what was also of consequence, 
oral instruction was here largely combined with the 
singing, reading, and prayers. The Jewish people, 
in all this, had evidently taken a most important step 
in improvement ; but still there were counteracting 
circumstances, (to be noticed in next chapter,) terri- 
bly corrupting their hearts. 

The synagogues were of various sizes, but general- 
ly not large. As far as possible they were built in 
imitation of the temple at Jerusalem, with an open 
court and corridors surrounding the court. In this 



Jewish Manners and Customs. 65 

was a chapel, or small building, ornamented with four 
columns ; and in the* chapel, on an elevated place, 
were the books of the law kept ready for use. The 
" uppermost seats in the synagogue " were those near- 
est this chapel, and these were the most honorable. 
In addition, there was erected, in the court, a large 
hall or vestry, into which people could retire when 
the weather happened to be unfavorable, and where 
each family had their particular seat. To each build- 
ing there were officers : 1st. — The Kuler of the Syna- 
gogue, who presided over the assembly and invited 
readers and speakers, unless some persons, who were 
acceptable, voluntarily offered themselves, (Luke viii, 
41, and xiii, 14, 15.) 2.— The Elders of the syna- 
gogue — rfpeoffiirspot, or presbyters • they appear to have 
been counsellors of the head or ruler, and were 
chosen from among the most powerful and learned 
of the people. The council of the elders not only 
took part in the management of the internal concerns 
of the synagogue, but also punished transgressors of 
the public laws, either by turning them out of the syn- 
agogue or decreeing the punishment of thirty-nine 
stripes, ( John xii, 42 ; xvi, 2 ; 2 Cor. xi 5 24.) 3.— 
Collector of alms ; and/1. — Servants of the synagogue. 
When the people were collected together for wor- 
ship the services began, after the usual greeting, 
with a doxology. A selection was then read from 
the Mosaic law, (Acts xv, 21.) Then followed after 
singing of a second doxology, the reading of a portion 
from the Prophets. (Luke iv, 17.) The person whose 
duty it was to perform the reading, placed upon his 
head, as is done at the present day, a covering called 
Talith. (See 2 Cor. iii, 15.) The sections which had 



06 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

been read in the Hebrew, were rendered by an in- 
terpreter into the vernacular tongue ; and the reader, 
or some one else, then addressed the people. (Acts 
xiii, 15-) 

It was on an occasion such as this, that Jesus, 
and, afterwards, the Apostles, taught the people. 
The meeting, as far as religion was concerned, was 
ended with prayer, to which the people responded, 
Amen; when a collection was taken for the poor. 

Such was the synagogue worship of that period, 
often sanctioned by our Saviour's presence, and by 
his taking a part in the services themselves. 

The modern Jewish synagogues are, as far as possi- 
ble, imitations of those ancient ones ; and a visit to 
them is recommended to any one who may desire to 
look far back into the ancient times. We may also 
gain in them some idea of the adaptation to music of 
the language in which David wrote : for in these ser- 
vices the Hebrew is still almost exclusively used. It 
is desirable, however, to select a synagogue of the 
higher order : for, in the inferior ones, both the lan- 
guage and the service are often repulsive, seeming to 
be a discordant jargon with but little appearance of 
devotion. 

On entering, we notice that the heads of the men, as 
well as of the women, are all kept covered, as in the 
ancient times : also that the standing posture is that 
of prayer as was the case in those former days. The 
eye too is caught immediately by a white garment, a 
simple, rectangular piece of cloth, 6 or 8 feet long by 3 
or 4 wide, which each male worshipper puts on as he 
takes his place, and leaves behind when he retires. In 
the wealthier synagogues it is of silk, in others of 



Jewish Manners and Customs. G7 

woolen stuff ; but it is always white, with blue stripes 
across at the ends ; sometimes, but not uniformly, a. 
fringe at each end ; and, in every case, it has a num- 
ber of cords a foot or so in length, of the same stuff, ap- 
pended to each of the corners. In viewing this gar- 
ment, we are carried, at once, into the remotest an-, 
tiquity : for, these blue stripes at the end are " the rib- 
band of blue," and the cords at the corners are the 
fringes commanded by Moses (Numbers xv, 32-41, but 
more especially Deut. xxii, 12) to be worn as a reminder 
of the penalty for transgressing the Sabbath : " and it 
shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it 
and remember all the commandments of the Lord and 
do them." The garment is called Talith, and is some- 
times made to cover also the head of the persons offi- 
ciating in their religious service. It is worn by the 
congregation mostly over the shoulders, but also in a 
variety of ways across the back ; and forms not an un- 
graceful drapery- I have seen, in a country church in 
Scotland, every man with his plaid across the shoulder, 
making a very picturesque congregation ; but although 
the plaid is of the same size and shape as this gar- 
ment, it wants the sacred associations of the Talith : 
the latter is always white. 

The language is deeply guttural ; and to my own 
ear, traveller as I have been among the Turks, and 
also the Germans, it has, as chanted in these syna- 
gogues, a familiar and very far from unmusical sound ; 
for it has both richness and power. Especially, at the 
close of the worship, when the whole assembly unite 
ill the singing, may we have some idea of the rich mu- 
sic as it floated, in the old times, from the heights of 
Moriah in the daily sacrifices ; or from their compa- 



68 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

nies to and from the festivals, as they travelled over 
hill and valley, singing on their way their great hymns 
to God. 

Those ancient synagogues, and the nature of the 
worship offered there, in a large portion of which the 
whole assembly united, and also the address and in- 
structions on those occasions, must have had a power- 
ful influence in keeping the Jews, after the captivity, 
from the idolatrous tendencies so striking in the na- 
tional character previous to that time. 

Of education there seems to have been little in our 
full meaning of that word. The sons remained at 
home under the care of the mother until five years of 
age, when the father took them in charge, and taught 
them in the arts aud the duties of life, and more es- 
pecially in the Mosaic law, and all other things con- 
nected with their religion, (Deut. vi, 20-25 ; vii, 19 ; 
xi, 19.) For further instruction, private teachers 
were provided ; or they were sent to ti priest or 
Levito 7 who sometimes had numbers under his care. 
We learn from Samuel, (1 Samuel i, 24-28.) that 
there was, at that time, near the tabernacle, a school 
for the instruction of youth ; but the instruction, ex- 
cept in religious matters, was very limited. Astron- 
omy, in those days, was apt to run into astrology, 
which was forbidden to the Jews : a little knowledge 
of mathematics sufficed for their wants : the sciences, 
in all nations at that period, were few in number: 
the whole bent of the Jewish scholars was towards 
the study of their written and their traditional law, 
and the questions to which these gave rise. Their 
teachers enjoined on all parents to have their children 
taught some art or handicraft : and the Talmuds par- 



Jewish Manners and Customs. 69 

ticularize many learned men who were engaged in 
manual labor. u What is commanded/ 7 says a Tal- 
mudic writer, " of a father towards his son ? To cir- 
cumcise him : to teach him the law ; to teach him a 
trade." Their great cabalist, Rabbi Judah, "Our 
Holy Rabbi," as he was called, wrote, " He that 
teacheth not his son a trade, does the same as if he 
taught him to be a thief;" and Gamaliel (Saul's 
teacher) said, "He that hath a trade in his hand, to 
what is he like? He is like a vineyard that is 
fenced." 

"There prevailed among 'the Hebrews no little 
propriety and refinement of manners. The Orientals 
would be thought by Europeans to be excessive in 
their gestures and expressions of good-will, when, in 
truth, they mean no more then very moderate ones 
among us. 

" In the time of Christ, the ancient mode of ad- 
dressing those who were worthy of being honored, 
viz., My lord j or words to that effect, was in a meas- 
ure superseded, and the more extravagant address of 
Rabbi, i.e., the great, mighty, which originated in 
the schools, had become common among the people. 

" The salutation between friends was an occurrence 
which consumed much time : for this reason it was 
anciently inculcated upon messengers who were sent 
upon business which required despatch, not to salute 
any one by the way, (2 Kings iv, 29 ; Luke x, 4.) 

" The ancient Hebrew, in particular, rarely used any 
term of reproach more severe than those of adversary 
or opposer, raca, contemptible, nabal ; fool ; an expres- 
sion which means wicked man or atheist. When 
anything was said which was not acceptable, the dis- 



70 LiFE-SCEXES FROM THE FoUR GOSPELS. 

satisfied person replied, It is enough, (Dent. iii, 26.) 
The formula of assent was, Thou hast said, or thou 
hast said rightly. This is the form of expressing as- 
sent or an affirmative to this day."* 

Their dress, unchanged from century to century, 
was generally simple and plain. It consisted of a 
tunic (also worn by the Romans, as we see in their 
sculptures,) which was a loose garment encircling the 
body, with short sleeves, and reaching nearly to the 
knees. The Babylonians, Egyptians and Persians 
wore another and outer tunic of more costly material, 
a custom also adopted*by the Jews, and referred to 
in Matthew x, 10 and Luke ix, 3. The tunic being 
loose, and bound by a girdle at the middle, made 
something like drapery, as we see in the ancient 
sculptures of Greece and Rome. The girdle was of 
leather, or flax, or silk, and was a hand's breadth in 
width. Over this was worn the Simlah or upper 
garment (the Talith,) simply a rectangular piece of 
cloth, eight or nine feet long by five or six in width, 
and thrown over the shoulders, or over one shoulder 
with the corners tied under the other, or wrapped 
around the body, or in any other manner that the 
wearer might choose. However worn, it was always 
a becoming drapery. Thrown over the head and 
held there by a fillet, as by the Arabs of the present 
day, it formed a protection from the sun. It was so 
large that burthens could be carried in it, (Exodus xii, 
32 ; 2 Kings iv, 39,) and one end thrown over the 
shoulder in front and tied could be made a conve- 
nient receptacle or pocket, as in Luke vi, 38. At 
night the Hebrew wrapped himself in this simlah, 

8 Juhn's Archaeology. 



Jewish Manners and Customs. 71 

and, if travelling, his girdle unclasped and laid on 
a stone for a pillow, made all the preparations 
necessary for his repose. This is seen in those coun- 
tries at the present time. So necessary was this 
simlah to the Jew that Moses enacted a law that when 
given as a pledge it should be returned over night. 
(Exodus xxii, 25, 26 ; Deut. xxiv, 13.) 

These simple garments, — the drawers, tunic and sim- 
lah, formed the usual costume of the Jew, a conven- 
ient and appropriate one in that southern climate : in 
winter the legs were often bound in cloth for warmth, 
and cloaks were worn also as a shelter from the 
weather. The cloak referred to in II Tim. iv, 13, was 
a Roman garment worn as a protection from the rain, 
or on journeys. Long garments were worn by those 
affecting particular sanctity or wisdom. The Talmud 
says, " Rabbi Jochanon asked Rabbi Baruaah, what 
kind of garment is the inner garment of the disciple 
of the wise man ? It is such an one that the flesh may 
not be seen underneath him.' 7 The glossis is, " It is to 
reach to the very soles of the feet. 77 * 

White was esteemed the most appropriate color for 
cotton cloths, and purple for others ; black was used 
for common wear and particularly for mourners : on 
festival clays, the rich and powerful robed themselves 
in white cotton, and the fullers had discovered a method 
of giving it a dazzling brilliancy, which was very highly 
esteemed. Scarlet was much admired. The tunics of 
the women were longer than those of the men, and 
their dress was usually of liner quality of cloth ; they 
always wore veils, even at home, except in the pres- 
ence of servants and of those relatives with whom nup- 
• Lightfoot. 



72 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

tiala were interdicted : their hair was also dressed dif- 
ferently from that of the men. 

Sandals, the tunic, the simian, a beard, sometimes a 
turban or cover ing for the head, will give us an idea 
of the outward appearance of the Jew of those ancient 
times. The face which we call Jewish is by no means 
universal : any one who will, now, look around in a 
Jewish synagogue of the better kind, will see many 
faces of our own type, which would be not at all dis- 
tinguishable in the street ; and doubtless, in these re- 
mote periods, the Jewish features generally were of a 
superior cast, to those we commonly see now, after the 
long centuries, during which they have been as the 
Pariahs of mankind. That universal traveller, Bay- 
ard Taylor, says of the Jews, whom he met in Pales- 
tine, " The native Jewish families in Jerusalem, as well 
as those in other parts of Palestine, present a marked 
difference to the Jews of Europe and America. They 
possess the same physical characteristics in the dark, 
oblong eye, the prominent nose, the strongly marked 
cheek and jaw ; but in the latter these traits have be- 
come harsh and coarse. Centuries devoted to the low- 
est and most debasing forms of traffic, with the endur- 
ance of persecutions and contumely, have greatly 
changed and vulgarized the appearance of the race. 
But the Jews of the Holy City still retain a x noble 
beauty, which proved to my mind their descent from 
the ancient princely house of Israel. The forehead is 
loftier, the eye larger and more frank in its expression, 
the nose more delicate in its prominence, and the face 
a purer oval. I have remarked the same distinction 
in the countenance of those Jewish families of Europe, 
whose members have devoted themselves to art or lit- 



FESTIVALS. 73 

erature. Mendelsohn's was a face that must have be- 
longed to the house of David."* 

That singular addition to their costume, — the phy- 
lacteries has already been described. When a Jew 
wished to make a profession of unusual strictness in 
observing the law, he enlarged their size, so as to 
make them a more striking object to the public eye. 

Mezzuroth was a name given by the Jews to cer- 
tain pieces of parchment on which were written Deut. 
vi, 4-9, and Deut. xi, 13 : then the parchment rolled 
up was put into a case on which was written shadai, one 
of the names of God. This they attached to the outer 
doors of their houses, also of their chambers and to the 
knocker of the door on the right side. As often as 
they passed this, they touched the name of the Deity 
with a finger which they afterwards kissed. 



CHAPTER Til, 



FESTIVALS. 



Thrice in the year, every adult male was bound to 
appear at Jerusalem ; namely, at the feasts of the 
Passover, of Pentecost, and of Tabernacles. This 
seems to have been a great demand on their time and 
means ; but religious observances were, to the Jews, 
no simple pastime, but the main business of life ; as 
their Sabbath, Sabbatical years, their tithes, sacrifi- 



* "The land of the Saracen. 



74 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ces, and feasts and festivals may testify. Their whole 
polity was a great religious system. God was their 
owner as well as king. Their means, and they them- 
selves, were his. He had a right to their first-born 
of children : the firstlings of their flocks had to be 
offered to him ; so also the first of their fruits ; so 
also the tenths of all the produce of their lands. 
Nay more ; of the remaining nine-tenths, one-tenth 
was still to be taken to the temple, or to be changed 
into money, if the owner was too remote to offer the 
substance ; the money to be given for religious use, 
(Deut. xii, 17-19, 22-29 ; xiv, 22-27.) There were, 
also, numerous other offerings which we will not stop 
here to particularize. 

In lieu of taking the first-born child, (due to God 
because he had saved the first-born of Israel from the 
destroying angel in Egypt,) he had accepted for him- 
self a tribe, — that of Levi, — and had set them aside 
for his service. Of this tribe he had then taken a por- 
tion — the distinguished family of Aaron — for the 
priesthood ; the remainder being reserved for the 
other offices of the tabernacle and temple. But even 
then, the first born of all children had to be brought 
to the temple, and had to be there redeemed with 
money, according to the estimate of the priest, which 
was never to exceed five shekels ($2,50) in amount. 
The first-born of cattle could not be redeemed, but 
had to be offered to God : so also the first-fruits of the 
earth. 

These three journeys to Jerusalem, made each year, 
were not the inconvenient, laborious tasks which they 
may perhaps seem to us to have been. The two ex- 
tremes of Palestine were only 170 of our statute 



Festivals. 75 

miles apart : from the most remote portions of it a 
good pedestrian could reach Jerusalem in about four 
days ; travelling, as they did, with families and cat- 
tle, this distance would take about six ; the nearer 
places, of course, less in proportion. Their word for 
feast, an chag, means rejoicing ;* and such was doubt- 
less the feeling strongest in the heart of old and 
young in their families, while making preparations for 
such a journey, and while they were on the way. 

The writer of this present work is the more able to 
picture to himself such a going up to their festivals from 
having once travelled a day and a half with companies 
of German pilgrims on their way to a celebrated 
shrine, that of Maria Zell, (the Virgin of Zell,) lying 
about forty miles to the southward of Vienna. The 
circumstances were all so peculiar and marked with 
the picturesque ; and were so illustrative of what may 
have been in Judea, in those ancient times, that he 
will briefly describe them, speaking in the first per- 
son for the sake of convenience. 

I was making a pedestrian tour through Europe, 
and was at this time (August, 1833,) proceeding from 
Trieste to Vienna. Having stopped at a wayside 
inn for refreshment one day, at noon, I was after- 
wards dozing on the porch when I was roused up by 
three women travellers standing there bargaining for 
some soup. They had great loaves of brown bread 
on their heads, and were soon, by such aid, engaged 
in making a hearty meal. I asked them where they 
were going, and they said, " to Maria Zell." My in- 
formant, pointing to one of the company, added, 
" This woman is becoming blind, and wanted to go 
e From a an to dance, to celebrate a feast by dancing. 



76 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

there and pray, for Maria of Zell is powerful to help ; 
this other is quite blind already." " But surely you 
cannot expect her to be restored." " No, but she 
would not stay at home." The person speaking could 
see, and was their guide ; their whole journey to the 
shrine would occupy nine days. 

On the second day after this, whiletrav elling 
on, I was passed by a young man, a long staff in his 
hand, and going like the wind ; and he soon left me 
behind. In answer to my inquiry, as he lingered 
a minute with me, he said that he was going to Ma- 
ria Zell. 

That evening I crossed a small stream, and follow- 
ed a winding road from it to the village of Fronleiten, 
on its bank, and stopped there to spend the next day, 
the Sabbath. At the tavern they gave me a bed in 
a large music room, as was often the case in the vil- 
lages in Germany. Some time, during the night, it 
seemed as if the spirit of song was haunting the cham- 
ber and mixing itself with my dreams ; and finally 
the music, soft yet strong, grew so powerful that I 
started from my sleep. My next act was to spring 
from bed and to throw up a window opening upon the 
street. There was a spectacle below quite in unison 
with such dreams. The moon was about half an hour 
from setting, and cast a dim light on objects around. 
Along the middle of the street was a procession of 
pilgrims, in double file ; they seemed, to my glance, 
to be all in white ; and their rapid gait, in the dull 
moonlight, appeared more like the flitting of ghosts 
than the tread of earthly forms. As they passed they 
were singing a hymn to some tune that harmonized 
with the scene and the occasion. They soon grew in- 



Festivals. 77 

distinct, and their hymn floated on the night air as if 
spirits were singing ; and then we had again only the 
deserted street and the splashing of water in the foun- 
tain below. 

At sunrise I was again aroused by singing from 
many voices in the street ; and found, on looking 
out, that it came from another company of pilgrims 
winding up from the river and entering the church. 
After concluding their worship, they proceeded on 
their way. Other processions succeeded ; and dur- 
ing the whole day pilgrims were passing on towards 
Maria Zell. I found, on inquiry, that they were from 
the rural districts of Styria ; that it was customary 
to make appointments each year, for particular dis- 
tricts, and that this was the year for pilgrims from 
that region. 

I began my journey early on the following day : 
and as the road, since leaving Gratz, had been, most 
of the time ascending, and was now fairly among the 
German Alps, the scenery on every side was marked 
with grand and striking features. I knew that there 
were pilgrims not far ahead, and by rapid walking soon 
joined a company of thirty-five, seated on the grass, 
at their morning meal. They appeared to be a fami- 
ly party ; and there was a venerable looking man at 
( the head of it, by whose word they were governed, 
as they presently arose and formed a procession in 
double file. They were all provided for the journey 
with huge loaves of bread, which the women carried 
on their heads. Not long after setting out, the leader 
uncovered his head, and all the rest doing the same, 
the whole party engaged in solemn prayer ; still, 
however, continuing their walk. This over, the hats 



7S Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

were replaced and they all commenced singing a 
hymn. The effect was very fine. Their voices were 
good ; the tune was a pleasant one ; the grandest and 
most sublime forms of nature were all around us ; a 
stream was dashing by our side, mingling its sounds 
not inharmoniously with the singing ; and the gentle 
moving of the forest trees, as we passed along, seemed 
by the graceful motions and the soft murmurings, to 
intimate that nature herself was joining in the wor- 
ship offered to nature's God. I looked in the faces 
of my companions, and read there clear signs of the 
sincerity of their devotions. Thus we travelled on, 
the whole party engaged in singing and praying al- 
ternately for more than an hour ; at the end of which 
time we arrived at a little chapel by the roadside, 
which they entered in order to commence some more 
formal devotions. 

Here I left them : and passing on, I soon joined a 
party of about 150 resting in the little town of Oflands ; 
and this company, being more miscellaneous, was or- 
ganized more carefully than the other. They occu- 
pied much of the time, as we proceeded, in singing and 
prayer : a slight rain, lasting two or three hours, did 
not interrupt either the journey or their devotions. 

They also stopped in the afternoon ; and I pro- 
ceeded and joined a party of about 250, a little fur- 
ther on the road. Their singing, as we travelled on, 
had the finest effect imaginable : for the rain had now 
ceased ; we were quite up, among the highest parts of 
the Alps ; the softening influences of evening were 
beginning to be felt upon the scenery, and upon our 
feelings ; and, if to this Ave add that the voices were 
good, and the airs musical and sweet, some idea may 



Festivals. 79 

be formed of the evening walk, as our procession 
passed, winding among the mountain tops. 

About sunset, we came to a small village^ and stop- 
ped to rest. I walked a little to one side, so as to 
have a view, at leisure, of the mountain scenery : for 
the spot commanded a most extensive prospect ; and 
every Alpine height was now steeped in its own pecu- 
liar hue, running through the richest shades of blue, 
purple, green and yellow ; while over some floated 
canopies of vapor with ever-changing colors, which no 
human art could imitate. I soon, however, thought it 
best to return to my company : — but they were gone, 
nor could I find them anywhere. The road in each 
direction was in sight, for some distance ; but they 
were not there. I looked around, perplexed and 
troubled : till, at last, happening to raise my eyes, I 
espied them scattered thickly over an adjoining hill- 
side so steep that I had previously not thought of look- 
ing for them there. It is called the " Seher-berg f 
and is so steep, that, in climbing it, I often had to dig 
holes in the turf with my feet before trusting myself to 
the next step. On the way up, I passed four pilgrims 
at prayer, on a more level part of the ascent. When 
I joined the company again, which was on the summit, 
I found them all on their knees, in an open area among 
the trees. Their faces were towards their homes ; and 
their leader was repeating something which seemed to 
be half vow, half-prayer. Suddenly they all rose, and 
faced in the contrary direction ; when, kneeling again, 
they repeated their devotions : and then, all rising, 
they broke, with full, strong voices, into a hymn, the 
cadences of which were well adapted to the scene and 
the time. In doable file, as before, and still singing, 



80 Life scenes from the Four Gospels. 

they descended the hill by a slope more gentle than 
on the opposite side ; and, at the bottom, we passed 
a large stone, which many of the pilgrims stepped to 
and kissed. We came, soon after this, to a large 
tavern, which the pilgrims immediately filled, as their 
resting place for the night. I went on to another, 
four miles distant ; but which I found, on arriving 
there, to be already filled, like the other ; I however 
succeeded there in getting a bed. 

On the morrow I joined this latter party, and went 
with them towards the shrine. At the expiration of 
a couple of hours, a bright object, like a gilded sun 
on top of a steeple, shone among the trees ; and now, 
by a little way-side chapel, the whole company stop- 
ped for formal prayer. Soon afterwards we reached 
the precincts of the village Maria Zell, where my 
companions stopped to make their toilet at a stream 
crossing the road. At the church I found many oth- 
ers advancing on their knees through the courtyard 
towards the shrine. 

We may, from these scenes, have probably some 
idea of the circumstances attending the going up to 
the festivals at Jerusalem, in those ancient times. 
The chief difficulty with the German pilgrims was in 
finding accommodations for the night : but in those 
southern countries, people, when they can, sleep, from 
choice, in the open air. The simlah, wrapped around 
the Jewish travellers, with the girdle folded and laid 
on a stone for a pillow, was all that was needed in 
that climate. Such was doubtless the night-rest of 
their patriarch Jacob, when, travelling in this same 
country, he saw, in his dream, the angels ascending 
and descending ; and so, in the morning he called his 



Festivals. 81 

open-air hostelrie, where the bright stars had shone 
down upon him, and heaven's vault was the dome, — 
a fit place for dreaming of angels — Bethel, or the 
house of God. 

The object of the Jewish festivals was " to perpet- 
uate the memory of great events j to keep them firm 
in their religion by ceremonies and the majesty of di- 
vine service ; to procure them certain pleasures, and 
allowable times of rest ; and to renew the acquaint- 
ances, correspondence and friendship of their tribes 
and families, which, coming from distant towns in the 
country, met three times a year in the holy city."* 
The periods for the festivals were : for the Passover, 
just when the harvest was ripening, but the gathering 
had not yet begun ; for Pentecost, 50 days after this, 
when the harvesting had been finished ; for the feast 
of Tabernacles, just before seeding time had com- 
menced : — periods, consequently, when time among 
agriculturists could very well be spared : and the 
Jews were generally cultivators of the soil. Then, 
as regards weather, the feast of Tabernacles was about 
our 15th of October, before the rainy season had set 
in : Pentecost was at a time when not a cloud is ever 
seen in Palestine, but yet prior to the hot season : 
the Passover was on the 14th Nisan, which month 
corresponded to the latter part of our March and be- 
ginning of April ; and at the 14th Nisan we may con- 
sider the weather of that country to have recovered 
from the wintry storms, and to have become settled 
and clear ; for, from the middle of April to the middle 
of September, rains and thunders were little known. 
The weather, therefore, for these journeys we may 

* Calmet. 

4* 



82 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

believe to have been clear, but not warm, and fa- 
vorable for travelling : the time could easily be 
spared, and the periods came when the heart was 
open for rejoicing and thankfulness. We may easily 
imagine the members of families, male and female, in- 
cluding the children fit for travel (for all seem to 
have gone, although it was compulsory only on the 
adult males) starting together, joining other families 
from their neighborhood, or on the road ; — cheerful, 
happy parties, and all the happier for the " pic-nic " 
kind of living on the way ; making the journey easy, 
since there was no occasion for hurrying, and they 
were subject to little expense on the road. The 
morning and evening and other occasional devotions 
added a sacredness to the day ; and the cheerfulness 
in other incidents of the journey had only a better 
zest from this devotion. Their grand and noble 
hymns — (and time, even to our day, has furnished 
no grander or more sublime hymnology) — were 
chanted ; and often and often the full tones, in 
that rich Hebrew language, rose in sublime anthems 
in the clear air, amid the very regions of which those 
anthems spoke ; the mountains and plains, all wit- 
nesses of God ? s miraculous powers, seeming now to 
take a voice and to join the singers in the great an- 
thems of praise. The cattle intended for the coming 
sacrifices helped to carry the offerings of the first 
fruits or other burdens of the travellers : the horns 
of the oxen were sometimes gilt ; — trumpets were 
blown before the processions, to herald joyfully their 
advances towards the holy city, the temple, and the 
altars*. The children had with them their pet lamb 
or kid, also decked, and sporting alon<x, unconscious 



Festivals. 83 

of the death so closely awaiting it ; and resting at 
night with the head of the child nestled against it — 
the animal itself still, as always before, a part of the 
family group. It was to be the coming sacrifice, — 
was thus a part of their religion itself — was to go 
before God accepted by Him, from and for them ; 
and was to open their way towards paradise, and so 
was a sacred object even in its sportiveness : and 
then again, the children, while hanging around their 
pet, with many a secret grief at the near final parting, 
were told of Abraham, leading even his only son to- 
wards the same Mount Moriah to which they were 
travelling, and of his faith, which they could now 
all the better appreciate from the trial required of 
themselves. Thus were infused into their young 
hearts the lessons of their religion by practical teach- 
ings, so well understood and never to be forgotten. 

But. on the whole journey, apart from the beauty 
of the scenery amid which the roads were laid, there 
were to all minds and hearts, historic lessons of 
strangest character and highest interest. If we sup- 
pose the festival journey to be from the northern part 
of Galilee, we see the travellers soon on the great 
plain of Esdraelon, vast in extent, and rich in beauty, 
on which rose the cone-shaped Tabor, with a town 
perched on its fortified heights. But the interest in 
natural beauty was sure to be mixed with grander 
thoughts ; for there, on Tabor, had their country- 
man, Barak, ranged his host of 10,000 men, while 
Sisera, with his immense army, and his 900 chariots 
of iron, waited to engage the Israelites on the plain 
below. There had the fearless prophetess, Deborah, 
without whom Barak had said that he would not go 



81 Life-scenes from the Four G-ospels. 

down, cried out to him, " Up. for this is the day : is 
not the Lord gone out before thee?" And so they 
had rushed down ; and the whole plain was soon cov- 
ered with the flying enemy, slaughtered till not a 
man was left, except Sisera, who was spared to be slain 
by a woman's hand, because Barak had doubted God. 
How heartily, as the travellers passed on, did they 
now chant Deborah's song: of victory, ' l Praise the 
Lord for the avenging of Israel" — ending with " So let 
all thine enemies perish, Lord.""* Far to the west 
of them now rose grandly on the edge of the plain, 
and in full view, Carmel, with its history of Ahab's 
heathen priests, gathered there by order of Elijah ; — 
the altars prepared there ; the priests cutting their 
own flesh in frenzy, and calling on their gods in 
vain ; and the heavenly fire, at Elijah's prayer, de- 
scending and consuming his sacrifice, and licking up 
the water in the trenches around. Soon their way laid 
by Jezreel, with its story of Elijah's hurried arrival 
there with the king, after the prophets of Baal had 
been slain in Kishon, on the western side of Esdrae- 
lon : and of the windows of heaven then opened 
in rain ; and also of Jezebel's fearful end, under the 
walls of Jezreel. f On their left, also, lay Endor, 
telling of Saul's night journey thither from the neigh- 
boring mountain of Gilboa, where his army lay en- 
camped : and of the summons to the spirit of Samuel, 
and of the king's heart-rending cry to the dead 
prophet, " God is departed from me and heareth me 
no more.']:" Further to the east they could see the 
isolated hill of Scythopolis (Bethshean) with precip- 
itous sides, and a castle on its summit, against the 
* Judges iv & v. f 1 Kings xviii ; 2 Kings ix. J 1 Sam. xxviii. 



Festivals. 85 

walls of which the decapitated body of Saul had been 
nailed by. his triumphant foes.* "What lessons of 
most powerful interest there were in all this journey 
to their festivals ! Soon, now, towards the southern 
side of Esdraelon, they passed the isolated range of 
Gilboa, 1,300 feet high, where Saul was defeated and 
slain : and here, with their chanting, mingled saddest 
notes, as, filled with the memory of the great slaugh- 
ter of their countrymen, they sang the lament of 
David, " The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high 
places : how are the mighty fallen ! Tell it not in 
Oath, publish it not in the streets of Askalon ; lest the 
daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters 
of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gil- 
boa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain 
upon you, nor fields of offerings ;t for there the shield 
of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as 
though he had not been anointed with oil. How are 
the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle !":£ 

Their journey might lead also by Sychem and Ja- 
cob's well ; and they could picture the patriarch re- 
turned once more to his native land, and finding here, 
for a while, his home ; and here, too, looking upon 
the two mountains, Ebal and Gerazim, the former 
bare, the other fertile and beautiful, they were re- 
minded of the strange scene of blessing and cursing 
in the ancient times, to each item of which all Israel 
gathered there said Amen. 

Shiloh also was on their way, with its mementos 
of the ark resting there for 328 years : and of Sam- 
uel brought up there : and of tne sudden death of Eli, 

* 1 Samuel xxxi. 

f Gilboa is to this day remarkable for its barrenness. 

X 2 Samuel i. 



86 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

when it was announced to him that his countrymen 
were routed in battle, and his children slain. Then 
they passed Bethel, where Jacob had his dream of the 
angels ; — their whole journey from home to Jerusalem 
being, indeed, through regions where history took to 
them a living and speaking form. 

Thus in prayer, and in singing their grand old 
hymns, and in pleasant intercourse, they passed on ; 
until at last, having reached the heights of Scopus, 
they paused in mute admiration and joy fulness : and 
then, they broke out in loudest praise : for, from this 
elevation, they looked down over a wide scene of 
beauty, in the midst of which lay " the joy of the 
whole earth," their own blest, sacred city, — Jeru- 
salem. 

On the road the crowds had thickened, new com- 
panies, all the while, uniting ; — not as for one of our 
modern gatherings, but for a deeply sacred and yet a 
glad purpose ; devotion and joy mingled harmoni- 
ously and beamed on every face ; old associates were 
there, with cordial greetings ; friends met from all 
parts of Palestine to strengthen the heart-bonds al- 
ready formed. 

Of the feasts of Tabernacles and Passover we shall 
have notices in a future part of this work. The cere- 
monies at Pentecost were brief, and we give them 
here as a suitable conclusion to this part of our subject. 
The word Pentecost signifies the 50th ; and was used 
because this feast was on the 50th day, that is, the ex- 
piration of seven weeks from the second day of the 
Passover feast. The object of it was to bring the 
Jews to acknowledge in the sanctuary at this, the end- 
ing of their harvest, the dominion of God over the 



Festivals. 87 

fruits of the earth ; and also to thank him for the law 
given on Mount Sinai, on the 50th day after their com- 
ing out from Egypt. Assembled at Jerusalem, they 
formed into companies of 24 persons each, to carry 
their first fruits in a ceremonious manner. Each com- 
pany was preceded by an ox appointed to be sacri- 
ficed, his head crowned with garlands of olive 
branches, his horns sometimes gilt, a player on a flute 
preceding him. The offering of first-fruits consisted 
of two loaves of wheat bread, barley, grapes, figs, 
olives and dates. Each man carried his basket, and 
the king himself was not exempt from this act. They 
walked in pomp to the temple, singing hymns : and, 
arriving there before the priests, the Levites sang the 
30th Psalm. The bearers then brought their baskets 
before the priest, and said : 

" A Syrian ready to perish was my father ; and he 
went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a 
few, and became there a nation, great, mighty and 
populous," &c. " And now, Lord, I have brought 
the first-fruits of the land, which thou, Lord, hast 
given me."* 

They placed the baskets beside the altar, and after 
prostrating themselves, were free then for the social 
enjoyments of the occasion. 

Such was the nature of the Jewish institutions, and 
sucli their legitimate actions ;— a pleasing spectacle, 
where religion and social joy were combined, and each 
helped to give a zest to the other ; and where all life 
was made grand by its intimate relationship to God. 

But, over this fair spectacle of ordinances and wor- 
ship, and over the Jewish heart, a cloud had been 

* Dent, xx vi, 4-10 : see also Numbers xxviii, 26-31. 



88 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

gradually drawn ; and it was, every day, darkening 
more and more. It came from the substitution of 
forms for the essence of religion ; from assumptions 
and pride in their leaders, and the hypocrisy which 
these engender ; from the innovations by the Phari- 
sees ; and especially from The Unwritten Word, (oral 
traditions) of which the Pharisees were the authors ; 
an instrument, which it will be readily seen, must, from 
its mysterious and undefined nature, have been capable 
of giving immense power to its possessors. The Jew- 
ish history of this very singular claimant of divine au- 
thority is thus condensed by Isaac Nordheimer D. P,, 
Professor of oriental languages in the University of 
New York, drawn by him from the writings of R. 
Moses Ben Maimon, commonly called Maimonides* 
the highest authority among the Jews : 

" All the laws given to Moses on Mount Sinai were 
accompanied by their interpretation ; as it is written, 
■ I will give thee tables of stone and the law and the 
commandments' (Ex. xxiv, 12). ' The law' means 
written law, and " the commandments " its interpreta- 
tion, the oral law. Although this oral law was not 
preserved in writing, Moses taught it all to the 70 
elders composing his Beth-din or tribunal. Eleazer, 
the priest, Phineas, his son, and Joshua, were likewise 
instructed by Moses, especially the latter, who was his 
own immediate disciple. From Joshua, who spent his 
whole life in teaching it, the oral law was transmitted 
to many of the elders of the people ; and, from them 
and Phineas, it was received by Eli. It then passed, 
successively, through the hands of Samuel and his tri- 
bunal, David and his tribunal, Abjiah the Shilonite 
<> He died A. D. 1205. 



Festivals. 89 

and his tribunal, Elijah, Elisha, Jehoiada the priest, 
Zechariah, Hosea, &c, &c, [the whole list is given by 
the Jews] to Hillel. R. Gamaliel, his son, imparted 
it to his son Simon, from whom it was received by his 
son Gamaliel, [Saul's teacher,] who was followed by 
his son, Simon the 3d. After him came his son R. 
Judah, generally called ' our holy Rabbi.' This R. 
Judah compiled the Mishna. From the death of 
Moses to his own age, no book had been composed for 
public instruction containing the oral law ; but, in 
every generation, the chief of the tribunal, or the 
prophet who lived at the time, made memoranda of 
what he had heard from his predecessors and instruc- 
tors, and communicated it, orally, to the people. In 
like manner, each individual committed to writing for 
his own use, and according to the degree of his ability, 
the oral laws and information he had received respect- 
ing the interpretation of the Bible, with the various 
decisions which have been pronounced in every age and 
sanctioned by the authority of the grand tribunal." 

R. Judah had become fearful that the tradition might 
fall into oblivion, and thus, a. d. 160, wrote out the 
work, Mishna or Second Law, as above described. An 
edition of this book, published in Amsterdam 1698- 
1703, is in 6 vols, folio ; and the vastness of the work 
shows us, not only how difficult (if not impossible) it was 
for any memory to retain it all, but also what immense 
means it afforded the Rabbis, by its very vastness, for 
imposing on the Jewish people, coming to them as 
these traditions did, as the word of God. Indeed, the 
oral law soon began to claim more power than the 
Written Word of the Pentateuch. Before we proceed 
to give authority for this assertion, we must speak also 



90 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

of the Gemara, (i. e. completion,) called so, because in 
this book the oral law is completed, or fully explained. 
The Gemaras contain an exposition of the contents 
of the Mishna, and discussions on disputed points of 
doctrine, also historical and biographical notices, le- 
gends, disquisitions on astronomy and sympathetic 
medicine,* aphorisms, apologues, parables, short and 
pithy sermons, and rules of ethics and of practical wis- 
dom in general. There are two Gemaras, one called 
the Jerusalem Gemara, compiled at the city of Tibe- 
rias, about 70 years after the writing out of the Mishna, 
(or a. d. 230.) The other, the Babylonian Gemara, 
was prepared a few years later : this latter, as pub- 
lished in Berlin in 1715, occupies 12 folio volumes. 
The Mishna and Gemara form, together, what is called 
the Talmud, from the Hebrew Lamad to learn. The 
Mishna is divided into 6 portions : 1, on seeds and ag- 
riculture ; 2, festivals ; 3, women ; 4, laws of civil 
life ; 5, things holy ; and, 6, purifications. Being 
written out, so soon after our Saviour's time, it may 
be considered a fair exhibition of the excrescences 
which had grown upon the Jewish religion, and which 
Christ so often and so severely denounced. The Tal- 
mud, as respects its claims to authority, says : " The 
written law is narrow ; but the traditional is longer 
than the earth and broader than the sea." "The 
words of the scribes are lovely above the words of the 
law ; for the words of the law are weighty and light, 
but the words of the scribe are all weighty." " The 
Bible is like water : the Mishna like wine : lie that 
hath learned the Scripture, and not the Mishna, is a 
blockhead." 

The great English scholar, Dr. Lightfoot, believing 



Festivals. 91 

that an examination of these books might afford im- 
portant information respecting the ways of those 
earliest times, and help us thus in the understanding 
of the New Testament, gave nearly all his life to this 
subject ; and Christian students must ever feel grate- 
ful to him for an undertaking so full of difficulties«and 
attended with so much that was utterly wearisome 
and disgusting. He says, in his own quaint lan- 
guage, respecting the Talmuds : " The almost uncon- 
querable difficulty of the style, the frightful roughness 
of the language, and the amazing emptiness and soph- 
istry of the matters handled, do torture, vex and tire 
him that reads them. They do everywhere abound in 
trifles, in that manner as though they had no mind to 
be read ; with obscurities and difficulties, as though 
they had no mind to be understood: so that the 
reader hath need of patience all along to enable him 
to bear both trifling in sense and roughness in expres- 
sion." 

Speaking again of the representation of the Su- 
preme Being in the Talmud, he says : " With re- 
gard to this fundamental doctrine of all religions, we 
must forbear to quote what would be offensive to the 
pious in perusal. Suffice it to say, that it speaks of 
God as the author of sin ; as needing atonement ; as 
contracting pollution ; as inferior to the Rabbies in 
knowledge : this, and more horrible blasphemies, are 
of common occurrence." 

Surely there was great need for a Divine Teacher, 
and for a Deliverer to appear ! Quotations from these 
works will be given in another part of this book. 

In searching for the origin of the abuses just de- 
tailed, we have no occasion to go very far ; for the 



92 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

Scribes and Pharisees, " hypocrites," as the Saviour 
often declared them to be,* " making the word of God 
of no effect through your traditions, which ye have 
believed, '"t readily furnish us with the clue to them 
all. 

11 Scribe denotes generally any man learned, and is 
opposed to the word rude or clownish. More particu- 
larly the word Scribe denotes such as being learned 
and of a scholastic education, addicted themselves es- 
pecially to handling the pen and writing. Such were 
the public notaries in the Sanhedrim ; registrars in the 
synagogues ; amanuenses, who employed themselves in 
transcribing the law, phylacteries, short sentences to 
be fixed upon door-posts, wills of contract, divorces, 
<fcc. * * But, above all, the fathers of the tradi- 
tions were called Scribes, (who were, indeed, elders of 
the Sanhedrim,) which is clear enough in such like ex- 
pressions, ' The words of the Scribes are more lovely 
than the words of the law ;' i. e., traditions are better 
than the tvritten law, 'Scribes of the people' were 
those elders of the Sanhedrim who were not sprung 
from the sacerdotal or Levitical stock, but from the 
other tribes : the elders of the Sanhedrim, sprung 
from the blood of the priests, were the scribes of the 
clergy ; the rest were scribes of the people.'- J 

The Pharisees, called so from the Hebrew word 
Fharash y signifying to separate, have been noticed in a 
previous chapter ; and it is necessary to mention 
them here, only as coming before us in history, about 
the time when we have the first distinct notices of the 
traditional law. They and the Scribes were its con- 
's Matt, xii, 13-33 ; xv, 7. t Mark vii, 13. 
X Lightfoot. 



Festivals. 93 

servators, and, doubtless, also its originators. That all 
the Pharisees were wicked men is not to be supposed ; 
for we have record of individuals of probity belong- 
ing to this sect j but these were the few exceptions, and 
the character of the rest is emblazoned in our Sav- 
iour's public denunciations of them, the truth of which 
they did not dare to deny.; It is not wonderful that 
such men, vainglorious and haughty, ambitious, over- 
bearing and hypocritical, should persistently oppose 
the Saviour, and that he should so constantly warn 
the people against them and their works 

There was another sect among the Jews called the 
Essenes, a quiet people, living by themselves, and 
almost entirely cultivators of the soil. Josephus 
speaks of them as only 4000 in number, and says, 
" They are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater 
affection one for another than the other sects have. 
These Essenes reject pleasures as an evil, but es- 
teem continence and the conquest over our passions 
to be virtue. They reject wedlock, but* choose out 
other persons' children while they are pliable and fit 
for learning, and esteem them to be of their kindred, 
and form them according to their own manners.' 7 * 
In another part of his book, however, he intimates 
that some of them married, and that they were more 
numerous than as above described : but they do not 
seem to have exercised, or cared to exercise, any 
great influence in national affairs. 

Another Jewish sect, the Herodians, were, how- 
ever ambitious of such power, and stood boldly for- 
ward not only as the advocates of the Roman govern- 
ment, but also of principles corrupting their country- 
» De bel. ii, 8, § 2. 



94 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

men. They took their name, apparently, from Herod 
the Great, and seem to have drawn their sentiment3 
from him, namely : 1st, That the dominion of the 
Romans over the Jews was just, and that it was their 
duty to submit; and, 2d, That in the present circum- 
stances, they might, with a good conscience, follow 
many of the heathen modes and usages.* Twice the 
Pharisees combined with them in attempts to entrap 
and destroy the Messiah ; and no further proof can 
be needed of the bitter hostility to him by the former 
sect than their union thus with men whose avowed 
principles in national affairs were so utterly hostile 
to their own. 

We have now, through these preliminary remarks, 
a view of the surface of Jewish society, and of some 
of its internal workings ; but, after all, there was a 
deep under current of feeling and belief which we 
have not reached, and cannot reach. The power of 
the insolent Pharisee over the masses was tremendous, 
backed, as it was, by the traditional law claiming to 
be that of God : yet the people were ever ready to 
break from them, and the rulers were ever fearful of 
such revolt by their followers. We may know from 
this, that in the Jewish heart was a broad sub- 
stratum of right feeling, which no Pharisaic cunning 
could destroy. While the Pharisees, and the Saddu- 
cees, and Scribes, and Doctors, looked coldly on 
Christ, or sneered, or tried to destroy him, the peo- 
ple heard him gladly, followed him with admira- 
tion, wanted to make him a king; and, more than 
once, set their old doctrinal masters at defiance in 
their love to Christ, and their joy as they followed in 

° Prideaux— see Calmet. 



Festivals. 95 

his train. Where the general heart was so moved by 
him, there must have been much good and right feel- 
ing in it, notwithstanding the corrupting influences 
which their leaders had long and hypocritically exer- 
cised over the land. 

The Jews had never been a' popular people among 
other nations, and they could not be. Exclusive, an- 
tagonistic to all other religions ; repelling all inter- 
course as adapted to bring heathenism among them ; 
believing themselves to be a 'nation chosen of God 
from all the inhabitants ot the earth, and favored of 
Him, they shut their hearts against all other people 
in that adversus omnes alios hostile odium, hatred 
amounting to hostility against all others^ described by 
Tacitus (Hist. Lib. v,' 5,) and were regarded by 
other nations in return with hatred mixed with con- 
tempt. " Credat Judeus"— let a Jew believe it, ex- 
presses Horace's contemptuous opinion of their credu- 
lity. Their literature, even their poetry, was scarcely 
known beyond themselves^: yet their poetry was the 
most sublime extant, and even to our day it has not 
been excelled. Their prophetical writing rises to a 
grandeur of sentiment and language without a par- 
allel ; and the father of Grecian critics on style, 
Longinus, quotes the opening of the first chapter of 
Genesis as the highest known specimen of the sublime. 
While Pharisaism and the heavy curse of the tradi- 
tional religion were like a crushing weight upon the 
land, there must have been a mighty power in the 
original Jewish faith to keep religion alive at all un- 
der such a malicious influence. Alive it was ; and 
now springing up once more with vigor at that cry 
from the Jordan, "The kingdom _ of heaven is at 



96 Life scenes from the Four Gospels. 

hand," with the subsequent declaration, u Behold 
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
world." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PRESENT JEWISH VIEW OF THAT PERIOD. 

These preliminaries in the last three chapters will 
enable us to take a comprehensive view of the cir- 
cumstances attending the public ministry of Christ : 
but the reader would probably be gratified by seeing 
how those matters are regarded by the present Jews 
themselves. We, therefore, make an extract from a 
recent work, " A general history of the Jews," by 
one of their own people, Jost ; considered by them 
as the most profound historian of the age. It was 
written in German, and portions have been trans- 
lated by Rev. James Murdaugh, D. D. ; from which 
we make our quotation. Its deeply interesting char- 
acter will render unnecessary any apology for its 
length, or for inserting it here in the text instead of 
a note. 

Jost says : 

"Herod the Great tore in pieces all the frame- 
work of society, and gave it a new construction. 
Under him the people so visibly lost their national 
peculiarities, that they seemed ready to become ex- 



Present Jewish View of that Period. 07 

tinct. Trodden down and oppressed by a tyrannical 
government, they turned their eyes towards the Holy 
Scriptures and their law, for comfort and consolation. 
They acknowledged themselves justly punished- for 
their backsliding ; and although the sanctuary and 
the sacrifices continued, yet every one could see that 
a priesthood, which the king conferred on whom he 
pleased, and of whose incumbents he had deposed 
four and slain two, and a sanctuary which the king 
beautified merely as a permanent temple, the sanctity 
of which he was no way concerned to maintain, could 
by no means satisfy the requisitions of God's govern- 
ment, and of the Judaism resulting from it. Besides, 
the national tribunals were disregarded, and the king 
alone enacted laws and appointed tribunals, on every 
occasion, according to his pleasure. The people had 
no protection, and they were harassed with acts of 
individual violence ; some were carried away by am- 
bition, others by self-interest ; some acted from com- 
pulsion, others from bigotry and hypocrisy. What 
would be the result of such a state of things, was a 
question which interested every friend of the public 
weal ; and it was answered variously. One party 
adhered to the doctrine of Judaism, and looked for 
deliverance by a regent of the house of David ; an- 
other party were for waging war with everything of 
a foreign character ; and a third party declared the 
kingdom of God to be at hand, in the way of a gen- 
eral repentance and reformation. 

" 1. The first party connected themselves with the 

doctors of the law, and adhered to their schools. At 

the head of these schools, during the whole reign of 

Herod, stood two men entirely disconnected with 

5 



98 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

political life, who devoted their time to the study and 
exposition of the doctrines of the law j namely, Hil- 
lel of Babylonia, renowned for the mildness of his 
disposition, his kindness and calmness, and Shammai, 
a man bold, vehement and decisive. Both were dis- 
tinguished for learning, and both framed systems of 
Judaism, though they frequently clashed in regard 
to their legal conclusions on particular points. And 
hence their schools were afterwards opposed to each 
other, and were characterized, that of Hillel for adher- 
ing more to the sense and import of Scripture, and 
that of Shammai for a rigid adherence to the letter. 
Both these men mingled so little in the transactions 
of their times, that they became mythical personages. 
Only some particular sayings, characteristic of each, 
have come down to us. Thus Hillel inculcated as 
the fundamental principle of Judaism, this maxim : 
Love thy neighbor as thyself. On the necessity of an 
early prosecution of knowledge, with his accustomed 
brevity, he said : Unless I for myself, who will ? If 
I only for myself what do I become ? If not now, 
then when ? On the nothingness of the world, com- 
pared with spiritual life, he said : The more flesh, 
the more worms ; the more wealth, the more care ; the 
more wives, the more poisoning ; the more maid-servants, 
the more unchastiiy ; the more men-servants, the more 
thieving, — but the more knowledge, the more life ; the 
more reflection, the more intelligence ; the more benevo- 
lence, the more union. Gaining a good name is a good 
thing ; but a knowledge of the law procures immortality. 
Respecting union he said : Separate not yourseleves 
from the many. Do not account yourself safe until your 
dying day : and judge not your neighbor until you stand 



Present Jewish View of that Period* 99 

in his place. From Shammai we have only a few say- 
ings. Make the study of the law the business of your 
life. Say little and do much. Be beforehand with every 
one. Yet the virtues of the man are particularly 
eulogized. By the influence of these two men, Rabbin- 
ism, or the authoritativeness of the teachers of the law, 
became predominant ; Saclduceeism was nearly extin- 
guished, and the interest of students in the application 
of the doctrines and precepts of the law to human con- 
duct was amazingly shackled. By the Rabbis of after 
ages, Hillel was honored as being next to Ezra, the 
restorer of the law. (Succa 1, end.) To him in par- 
ticular, has been ascribed the distribution of the whole 
law into six parts : 1, of seeds; 2, of women ; 3, of 
festivals ; 4, of possessions and property ; 5, of sacred 
things ; 6, of things clean and unclean ; a distribution 
which has been permanently maintained. Under these 
six titles are arranged all that Judaism teaches respect- 
ing the law ; and the whole, collectively, has since 
been called Mishna, (Deuterosis) or the second rescen- 
sion of the law. Yet all instruction was, at that time, 
given orally. Hence, though many persons under- 
stood the law, yet there were few who had talents for 
teaching. Possibly the Semicha, or the consecration 
of public teachers by the imposition of hands, which 
their principal doctors practiced, originated in this pe- 
riod. For not long afterwards, the learned were al- 
ways called Rabbis ; which word became a title, and 
was an object of ambition. The introduction of such 
a mode of investiture greatly increased the power of 
the Rabbis, or rather established it on a firm basis. 
Rabbinism directed its aims against paganism, and 
the dominion of the senses in common people. To all 



100 Life -scenes, from the Four Gospels. 

who intrenched themselves in this bulwark, the civil 
government became a matter of indifference, because 
it did not secure the proper object. From that pe- 
riod, the adherents to Rabbinism have had a world of 
their own, in which they lived, and for which they 
died. We may also remark that the Rabbis, for a 
number of centuries, continued their labors to bring 
Judaism to perfection. The men who took the lead 
in the work, set out with a very good idea, namely, to 
give to Judaism an enduring shell or covering that 
should defend it against all the storms to which it 
might be exposed. But many of their followers em- 
braced only the shell, and sought for salvation in out- 
ward observances, in much prayer and fasting, in stren- 
uously combatting the slightest deviation from very 
trivial prescriptions ; and thus, either they were alto- 
gether in error respecting the kernal of doctrine, or 
they put on an apparent sanctity as a cloak to conceal 
their moral conduct. The majority were enthusiasts in 
the proper sense of the term, and lived only in an ideal 
world. 

"2. On the other hand, there was at that time a 
large party who contemplated a full restoration of the 
Jewish commonwealth, and who overrated their own 
power. During the whole period of Herod's reign it 
showed itself openly. Judas and Matthias, two re- 
spectable doctors, heated their scholars into insurrec- 
tion. Representing the king's sickness as a punish- 
ment from heaven, they advised to the destruction of his 
unlawful works, among which was accounted the golden 
eagle, emblematic of the Roman dominion, placed over 
the great door of the temple. The spirited youth, 
giddy with the thought of a glorious conflict with the 



Present Jewish View of that Period. 101 

vast power of the Romans, hastened to the temple and 
tore down the eagle. Herod, who then lay sick at Jer- 
icho, caused 40 of the perpetrators, with their leaders, to 
be apprehended ; and he summoned the principal Jews 
before him. The two authors, and the most active per- 
petrators in the deed, were consigned to the flames . 
Matthias, the high-priest, was deposed ; and his broth- 
er-in-law, Joazar, put in his place. Thus the insurrec- 
tion was checked, but the spirit of it was not extin- 
guished. It was rather strengthened by the danger 
incurred. Scarcely was Herod dead, when the love 
of freedom everywhere awoke. Sabinus, a Roman 
captain serving under Varus, the president of Syria, 
quartered a Roman legion in the castle of Jerusalem, 
and commenced an arbitrary course, which inflamed 
the opposition still more. On the next feast of 
weeks, the friends of liberty flocked to Jerusalem; 
and the conflict soon commenced. Arrows, javelins 
and stones, from every quarter, flew through the city. 
A part of the cloisters of the temple were set on fire 
by the Romans, and many Jews lost their lives either 
in the flames or amidst the rains. Sabinus was forth- 
with besieged in the castle, until some of the leaders 
of Herod's party joined him. About the same time, 
Judas, the son of one Ezekias, slain by Herod, took 
possession of the natural fortress Sepphoris. Simon, 
a former slave of Herod, a man of fine form and of 
great bodily strength, placed a garrison in the for- 
tress of Jericho ; but he was soon after seized and 
put to death. Another, whose name was Athronges, 
with a large retinue commanded by his four brothers, 
set up a military government at Emmaus, slew the Ro- 
mans and Herodians there, and sustained himself for 



102 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

several years. Varus at length appeared, with two 
legions, and a body of Arabians and Phenecians, and, 
vanquishing the insurgents almost everywhere, he 
marched, into Jerusalem. About 2,000 persons were 
crucified, and many were sold into slavery. Much 
property was lost by fire and plundering. Yet the 
insurgent party remained secretly in arms. They 
bore the name of Zealots, i. c., passionate for liberty ; 
and they caused the ruin of their country. 

" 3d. A third party was actuated by totally differ- 
ent views. In the interpretation put upon the law by 
the first party, they could see only a tissue of external 
sanctity ; and in the zeal of the second party, only a 
useless effort, that must draw after it the loss of what 
little union remained in Judea. Far from both, 
many, especially among the more plain, common peo- 
ple who had no thirst for distinction, and no solici- 
tude to maintain the fallen commonwealth, hoped for 
deliverance from the fluctuating state of things, and 
particularly from the evils of immorality, in accord- 
ance with the generally proclaimed oracles of the 
prophets. There can be no doubt that this expecta. 
tion of a kingdom of God which should arise out of Ju- 
daism, and be a very different thing from what others 
anticipated, was very prevalent, especially among 
the later Essenes. They preferred a still and quiet 
life of devotion, and served the public chiefly as 
peaceful counsellors, and revered wise men. T he- 
spirit alone, the divine, the all sin-subduing spirit, 
could put an end to their calamities ; burst the fetters 
of the law on the one hand, and of worldly-minded- 
ness on the other, and, by hi? truth, tyung not only 
the Jews, but all the Gentile world, to an internal 



Present Jewish View of that Period. 103 

tranquillity ; which their religious, in combination 
with worldly, power or oppression, could not secure. 
These views, more or less matured, pervaded and ani- 
mated a very ^considerable number of Jews, who 
waited only for the manifestation of God, in order to 
see the work of redemption in successful operation. 
Their aspirations for it increased as the calamities 
multiplied. That such views were liable to abuse re- 
sulted from the nature of the human mind. There 
arose one Theudas, who gave out that he was himself 
the Deliverer ; so also one Simon, called the Sorcerer, 
shortly after this period. They, however, disap- 
peared and effected nothing. On the contrary , agree- 
ably to the Christian doctrine (which the Jews flatly 
contradict,) true deliverance was wrought by that 
JESUS, who was born, of Mary at Nazareth, in the 
very year of Herod's death ; in whom were perceived, 
at the time of his birth, all the indications of the fu- 
ture Messias, or the Jlnointed, the Christ. With 
his entrance into the world, the Christian doctrine, 
or the belief in a Redeemer already come, began to 
be more general among the class of Jews just de- 
scribed. Subsequently they found their expectations 
fully answered ; and thus, though remaining out- 
wardly Jews, they were in spirit separate from them. 
Up to this time they were a constituent part of the 
Jewish community ; and in them the ground of va- 
rious agitations or rather embarrassments, may be 
traced. The opposition between Judaism and Chris- 
tianity first became manifest after the founder of 
Christianity had finished his earthly course. Though 
his life, in itself considered, makes no conspicuous 
part of the Jewish history, we notice it here for the 



104 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

sake of marking- the principal points of the above-men- 
tioned self-evolving opposition, which in subsequent 
limes becomes of importance in the history of the 
Jews; but we pass no judgment on* the numberless 
different expositions of the existing narrations and 
traditions, because it would lead us into the province 
of theological controversies. Recognizing the sinful- 

o Co 

ness of men by nature as a fundamental principle, the 
Jews anxiously desired to find an atonement for sin. 
This was symbolized by sacrifices and by baptism. 
John, surnamed the Baptist, born a little prior to 
Jesus, and also destined to a high calling, travelled 
up and down the wilderness, like the ancient pro- 
phets, proclaiming, "The kingdom of heaven draws 
near." Kindly greeting all who resorted to him, he 
baptized many in the Jordan, and preached repent- 
ance as a preparation for the coming of Christ; 
whom, moreover, he recognized in the person of Jesus 
of JVazareth. Jesus also, honoring the national cus- 
tom, received consecration from him. Exciting high 
expectations in his childhood, and astonishing people 
by his wisdom in discourse with the doctors of. the 
law when twelve years old, he, at the age of about 
thirty, entered en his course as a public teacher. In 
Galilee his discourses had an overpowering influence ; 
and soon his triumphant superiority, in reasoning with 
the Pharisees and Sadducees in their own way, pro- 
cured him general esteem and veneration. The 
mentally diseased, often, from mere internal conflicts, 
exposed to exquisite pain, found relief by him : and 
other sufferings he was able to alleviate by his heal- 
ing word. After various miracles, which were be- 
held with amazement, but which did not so penetrate 



Present Jewish View of that Period. 105 

the soul as did his instructions. Jesus announced his 
vocation as the Christ, the Anointed One, the Sav- 
iour of the world, the Son of God, and, in general, as 
the person foretold by the prophets under various 
attributes ; and, of course, also as a king, yet not 
over an earthly realm, but over the spiritual world, 
which was to be new created. His friends, who were 
in some uncertainty respecting his mysterious char- 
acter, were at length brought gradually to the con- 
viction that he was the Deity himself, manifested in a 
human form. The Pharisees, who were advocates 
of the enlarged oral law, and especially of the ex- 
pected glorious appearing at some time of a restorer 
of the commonwealth, saw in his denial of the holi- 
ness and atoning efficacy of certain precepts of the 
law, and in the announcement of his grand position, 
that redemption is to be sought for in a renovation of 
the soul, an entire prostration of their own system of 
doctrine. Although no one of the renowned doctors 
of Judaism encountered him in debate, yet he had to 
answer a great many captious questions, and often to 
hear his doctrine branded as heresy. This occurred 
especially at Jerusalem, where his adversaries took 
occasion, from certain expressions, to accuse him of 
treason, which the civil relations of the country easily 
offered the means of doing. A Sanhedrim, assembled 
under the Romish governor, Pontius Pilate, found 
him guilty ; and Pilate, contrary to his own convic- 
tions, yielding to the urgency of the excited people, 
ordered him to be crucified. But the execution of the 
Sanhedrim's sentence had an effect very different 
from that contemplated. The headlong procedure, in 
disregard of the usual forms of justice, strengthened 
5* 



10G LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

and united his followers. They saw in the transac- 
tion, not merely the execution of an innocent person, 
but a conspiracy against the Deity, with which he 
was filled, and by whose spirit actuated, he, for the 
salvation of all. gave up his body to torture and con- 
tumely. From the period of Christ's crucifixion, his 
followers ceased to be Jews, and, of course, pass out 
of the province of our history, into that of the church 
of Christ. The Jews themselves did not at the time 
view this transaction so important as they must after- 
wards have found it to be.''' 



CHAPTER IX. 

GALILEE — CAXA. 

Except in the declarations of John, and the out- 
ward stamp which inward greatness gives to features 
and manner, the Messiah had little impressiveness in 
his appearance at the Jordan, and he did not seek 
for any such effect. Example, Teacher, Redeemer : 
these were to constitute the purposes of his appear- 
ance on the earth, and they could best be effected in 
quietude, and in avoidance of large public demonstra- 
tions : even among men, the greatness which is for 
eternity, is seldom the greatness which shines amid 
crowds ; but rather is seen most in little things, en- 
dures trials well, and is always and everywhere the- 
Fame. 

There was, indeed, a striking simplicity in the man- 



Galilee — Cana. 107 

nei\ in which, on the day following John s public an- 
nunciation, a few followers gathered around the Mes- 
siah ; — all in great contrast with the scenes previously 
about John, — the prophetic cry, the deputation, the 
crowds, and the baptisms, exciting wonder and curi- 
osity. What had been the effect of John's first an- 
nouncement we do not know ; but it brought no dis- 
ciples to Christ : and we may suppose that it created 
disappointment among men, whose expectations of the 
Messiah had been so erroneous and so extravagant as 
to earthly power. Was this — they thought — this he 
who was to rescue them from the Roman dominion, 
and to build up the mightiest kingdom ever known 
upon earth — to flash over all the world his own glory 
and that of the Jewish name ? Was this the Christ ! 

And yet, the glory of his kingdom has remained, 
while that of Rome itself has sunk into nothingness ; 
and it will forever remain. But man is blind. 

On the day following this annunciation, John made 
a second one to his disciples, as Jesus was passing by, 
" Behold the Lamb of God !" and two of them left the 
Baptist to follow Christ. One of them, Andrew, 
finding his brother, expressed his new joy, li We have 
found the Messiah," and he brought him to Jesus. 
The salutation from the latter might well surprise all 
who heard it, "Thou art Simon the son of Jona : 
thou shalt be called Cephas" (the Aramaic for stone.) 
What could be the meaning of the address to this 
man, — frank, quick, impulsive, and unstable? was 
it to be a reminder of what he was to aim at,— firm- 
ness of character and stability, in order to supply what 
was wanting among his really generous traits ?— So 
the spectators might well revolve in their minds about 



108 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

Simon, as now they watched the proceedings of Christ 
with increasing interest. 

On the following day, the Messiah called another 
disciple, Philip, with the simple injunction, " Follow 
me :" he was from Bethsaicla, the same Galilean town 
from which came Simon and Andrew. About seven 
miles northward from Nazareth, the place of Christ's 
bringing up, was the town of Cana ; and a true, good 
man, Nathaniel by name, " an Israelite without guile," 
had come from that place to the gathering at the Jor- 
dan. An individual of such uprightness and single- 
ness in character would be longing for the salvation of 
Israel ; and would be agitated by the reports circula- 
ting on every side : and we may believe him to have 
been on that day, in private prayer, asking humbly of 
God for manifestations of the long-promised Deliverer. 
Philip met him, and at once became an Evangelist for 
Christ ; — an office in which that disciple was, after- 
wards, so distinguished. He cried to Nathaniel : 

" We have found him of whom Moses and the proph- 
ets did write, Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph." 

" Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth :" 
was the quick reply of the startled man ; for the repu- 
tation of Nazareth seems to have been bad. 

" Come and see," said Philip ; and Nathaniel went. 
A few words from Christ, showing an intimate know- 
ledge of the individual thus brought before him, con- 
vinced the doubter, and he cried : 

" Rabbi, thou ar^the Son of God : thou art the king 
of Israel." 

What a greatness of joy must have indeed been in 
the man's true heart, to bring out such an exclamation 
as that : and the joy rose to its fullest height, when 



Galtlee — Caxa. 109 

the Messiah, after a few words more, declared to him, 
" Verify, verily I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall 
see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and 
descending upon the Son of Man." 

The Messiah now returned from this place to Gal- 
ilee. 

It is always delightful to accompany him to that re- 
gion, where there was altogether a different moral at- 
mosphere from that of Juclea ; — a people mostly of 
simple habits, kind, genial in feeling, open to his teach- 
ings and ready to respond with warm gratitude to his 
benevolent acts. Judea, on the other hand, with 
greater refinement, and with more celebrated schools, 
was distinguished for pride, bigotry, captiousness, and 
insolence in its higher ranks : while the people there 
were down-trodden by the rulers, and were a mere 
abject race. These, however, are only general char- 
acteristics ; for there were exceptions in both districts, 
as we shall presently see. For a good account of Gal- 
ilee, we will resort to an author of that day, who 
knew well the nature of its brave people ; having, 
when he wrote about them, just raised there at the 
commencement of the war against the Romans an army 
of more than 100,000 men * He says : 

" Those two Galilees, [upper and lower, but essen- 
tially one] of so great largeness, and encompassed with 
so many nations of foreigners, have always been able 
to make a strong resistance on all occasions of war ; 
for the Galileans are inured to war from their in- 
fancy, and have been always very numerous, nor hath 
the country been ever destitute of men of courage, or 
wanted a numerous set of them ; for their soil is uni- 
* Jos. De Bello II, 20, § 6. 



110 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

versally rich and fruitful, and full of the plantations of 
trees of all sorts, insomuch that it invites the most 
slothful to take pains in its cultivation, by its fruitful- 
ness ; accordingly it is cultivated by its inhabitants, 
and no part of it lies idle. Moreover, the cities lie 
very thick, and the very many villages which are here, 
are everywhere so full of people, by the richness of 
their soil, that the very least of them contain above 
fifteen thousand inhabitants. In short, if any one will 
suppose that Galilee is inferior to Perea in magnitude, 
he will be obliged to prefer it before it in its strength ; 
for this is all capable of cultivation and is everywhere 
fruitful."* 

We may remark here that, of the twelve apostles, 
eight were known to have been from Galilee ; as were 
also, probably, the other four, except Judas, whose 
surname Iscariot from Carioth or Kerioth (Joshua xv, 
25) seems to point him out as originally from a town 
in Judea. 

Eive disciples or followers, — not yet formally ap- 
pointed as apostles, that is, commissioned to preach, — 
Avere now. with him ; wondering, observant, commun- 
ing among themselves about all they had seen and 
heard ; respectful, but yet in their minds full of que- 
ries ; for the way before them seemed doubtful, both 
as respected their leader and themselves. He had 
given them no proof of his high commission ; and 
John's announcements, although clear and decisive, 
were yet but the words of one who had himself per- 
formed no miracles, and had received no endorsement 
before the world of his own claims ; whose words 
were, according to his own declarations, but the voice 
of one crying in the wilderness, " Prepare ye the way." 

« Jos. De Bello HI, 3, § 2. 



Galilee — Cana. Ill 

As the disciples went on thus through Galilee, watch- 
ful and querying, reports were also spreading there 
concerning the proceedings at the Jordan, and John's 
declarations : and now, here before the Galileans, 
was the individual announced by the Baptist to be the 
Messiah. — But he was so quiet in manner, so gentle 
and unassuming, so undemonstrative in power ; who, 
people asked in wonder, who, in reality, or what was 
he ? The question remained still unanswered, although 
repeatedly put ; and a most deeply interesting ques- 
tion it was to all. Yet, amid the queryings, there was 
a winningness about him that had gained the hearts of 
his followers : a mysterious Presence too, an undevel- 
oped something undefinable to their puzzled percep- 
tions, but impressing them with reverence. — How 
would it end ? They followed, and waited, with many 
agitating thoughts in their minds, and many strange 
feelings in their hearts. 

On the third day after they had left Bethabara 
there was a marriage in Cana, Nathanael's birth- 
place, and Christ, his mother and disciples, were 
invited guests. Curiosity, fed by widely-spreading 
rumors respecting him, was increasing, and becoming 
intense. His actions were closely watched, his words 
weighed, his looks were scrutinized. What demon- 
strations would he make, were he the Messiah ? How 
would he proclaim himself? How show his power? 
When would the glory of his kingdom begin? — Or 
had John misjudged him, and misled the multitude? 
Thus among the company present there were fluctu- 
ating opinions, questions, with much wondering, and 
a close observation of all that was done and said. 
The mother of Jesus knew all the greatness that 



112 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

lay unseen in his quietude of manner ; the disci- 
ples were expectant ; curiosity among all was deeply 
blended with that cheerfulness of the marriage 
scene. Such feasts among the Jews usually lasted 
seven or eight days ; and the wine, on this occasion, 
gave out while the Messiah was there. Let not any one 
accustomed to see or hear of excesses in our country, 
form an opinion from them of such occasions among 
the Jews. What was termed emphatically u good 
wine" among the ancients was that which was desti- 
tute of spirit :* and Horace and Plutarch both inform 
us that the best wines were those which were power- 
less : the saluberrimum vinum, most wholesome wine, 
being such as had not been adulterated with any ad- 
ditions to the must, or simple juice of the grape. 

"While intense curiosity respecting the Messiah was 
almost acting as a check on the cheerfulness of the 
feast, this lack of the usual beverage was threatening 
to complete the interruption ; and the mother of 
Christ announced to him the fact. We can imagine 
her feelings of anxiety ; and, with her belief in his 
greatness, a desire that he should satisfy others by 
making some powerful demonstration of himself. 
Therefore, although his answer to her was adapted 
to qualify such a desire, she directed the servants to 
execute any wish that he might express. For the disci- 
ples themselves, called to follow him, and now won- 
dering, observant, and querying in their minds, an 
exercise of miraculous power would be well-timed ; 
and the occasion suggested its character. He ordered 
the servants to fill with water some vessels standing 
by, and then to draw from them and to carry to the 

* See Pliny, lib. iv, chap. 13. 



The Temple. 113 

ruler of the feast. The water had become wine; and 
the ruler, on its being presented, called the "bride- 
groom, and charged him with breach of the rule on 
such occasions, by keeping the " good wine " to the 
last. 

Our feelings are drawn powerfully towards the 
Messiah by this scene at' the marriage feast ; — his 
mingling with those assembled on the cheerful occa- 
sion ; his unwillingness to have the joyfulness of the 
company damped or destroyed ; his ready yielding 
to the suggestions to a kind act, which removed an 
awkward dilemma in the house ; and even the de- 
scending from the higher dignity of usual miraculous 
acts for an occasion so small as this ; — showing that, 
in his supreme greatness of nature, he considered 
nothing little which could add to the happiness of 
others. 

The effect of the miracle on his disciples was 
good ; for we are told that it acted as a confirmation 
of their faith. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE TEMPLE. 

After these events at Cana. Jesus, with his mother 
and disciples, proceeded to Capernaum, on the lake 
of Galilee ; but they remained there only a few days, 
for the Passover was approaching, and it was accord- 



114 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ing to their law that he should spend it at Jeru- 
salem. 

With every mention of that city, connected with 
those ancient times, comes up a vision of the great 
temple, the central object of the Jews' affections 
throughout the world. The very stones that formed 
it were precious in their eyes. In distant lands, the 
theme to their wondering children was the former 
glory that rested abidingly on Mount Moriah ; the 
presence of God seen and felt there ; the Urim 
and Thummim, the Ark, the bright cloud upon the 
mercy seat, the spirit of prophecy ; — all connected 
with the first temple which Solomon had built, and 
had dedicated with sacrifices of sheep and oxen "that 
could not be told nor numbered for multitude," and 
with prayers ; while in " the holy place" within, " the 
priest could not stand to minister," " for the glory 
of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord." That 
temple had long since been destroyed by the enemy's 
hand ; but its splendor, and its honor from heaven, 
were yet a living remembrance in the hearts of all 
the Jews. 

Then had come the second temple, built by Nelio- 
miah, far inferior to the other, — the foundations laid 
while the old men among them who had seen the 
glory of the first, " wept with a loud voice," as they 
remembered it ; and the younger were shouting with 
joy at the prospect of restoring the former worship ; 
" so that the people could not discern the noise of the 
shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the peo- 
ple : for the people shouted with aloud shout and the 
noise was heard afar off."* 

o Ezraiii. 12, 13. 



The Temple. 115 

Such were the grand and the tender associations 
connected with this sacred spot. It had, also, other 
deeply interesting associations ; for Moriah was sup- 
posed to be the place where Abraham erected the 
altar for offering his son ; and it was certainly there 
that David interceded for his people, and built an 
altar at the time when the destroying angel was scat- 
tering pestilence over Israel,* because the monarch 
had numbered his people, trusting in them rather than 
in God. 

This second temple being unsuited to the grandeur 
of the purposes for which it had been erected, and 
having also become ruinous from age, Herod the 
Great determined to pull it down and to erect a 
larger one ; and, finally, he succeeded in placing 
before the Jewish people that great " Mountain of 
the House," as they termed it, vaster in size, and 
more magnificent in its architectural claims, than 
was the case even in Soloman's temple itself. 

Mount Moriah is a short, rocky ridge, 318 yards 
wide, running north and south ; having on the east 
the deep valley of Jehoshaphat, separating it from the 
Mount of Olives, and on the west a shallower valley, 
called the Tyropean, (also valley of the Cheesemon- 
gers,) 350 feet across,t immediately beyond which 
rose the heights of Zion, lined with its battle- 
mented walls. Solomon had, by means of a wall 
built up on the eastern side, and, perhaps, also across 
the southern part, of this ridge, and by filling up, 
formed a platform for his temple : but Herod faced 
each side of Moriah with a wall, forming a rectangu- 
lar substructure suited to the temple with which its 
© 2 Sam. xxiv, 25. f Robinson. 



116 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

heights were to be crowned. In some places near the 
foundations, the stones yet remain in their original 
places ; and some of them measure twenty and a half, 
twenty -four and a half, and even thirty feet in length. 
They are of the white limestone of that region ; and 
their faces being raised about six inches from the 
edge of the stone, so as to look like raised panel 
work, a plain wall would thus have a rich architect- 
ural effect. Thesfc walls being carried to an eleva- 
tion which, though doubtless less than that given by 
Josephus — four or five hundred feet — was still con- 
siderable, the inclosed space was filled up with 
arched ways and earth ; and thus, at a proper height, 
a platform w r as made for their sacred purposes. Let 
the reader now imagine these outside walls to be car- 
ried still higher, so as to enclose this platform as in a 
court, and to be battlemented. This court, accord- 
ing to Josephus, was 625 feet square," and was paved 
with marble of various colors ; and against the wall 
all around, was a cloister or covered space, the roof 
of which was of carved and ornamented wood-work, 
the columns supporting it of marble, each column a 
single stone. These cloisters or corridors were very 
grand, a fitting frame-work for the more sacred spots 
within. In southern countries, where people live 
much in the open air, covered places for general re- 

e He says a furlong square, and, doubtless, meant the Roman 
furlong, equal to 625 feet of our measure ; recent careful measure- 
ments by Williams (the Holy City, by Rev. George Williams, M. A.) 
of what seems to be the remains of this wall, give, for the cast wall, 
1520 feet ; south, 940 ; west, 1017, and north 1020 f^t. It id diffi- 
cult to know whether the cubit in Josephus, meant the Roman, 
equal to eighteen inches, or the Jewish cubit, equal to twenty one 
inches of our measure. 



The Temple. 117 

sort are a great convenience, and the pillared spaces 
around the Grecian temples were for such a purpose 
as well as for ornament. The Greeks, however, 
finding these insufficient, soon began to erect what 
were called Stoae — inclosed courts, with paved corri- 
dors, and had many of them. The Stoic sect of phil- 
osophers received that name because Zeno, their 
teacher delivered his lectures in one of these resorts, 
the Stoa Poecilo. The Eomans had also numerous 
stoae, sometimes private ones, connected with their 
city palaces or their villas. In southern Europe, 
especially in Italy, archways or corridors, bordering 
their streets or public squares, are common ; and the 
writer of this has seen, even at Quito, on the Andes, 
three sides of the main plaza thus provided with what 
was not only ornamental, but of great use to the peo- 
• pie of that city. 

These corridors at the u Mountain of the House" 
at Jerusalem, were of unusual depth and magnifi- 
cence. On the north, and east and west, they were 
formed by triple rows of columns, including the one 
against the wall' ; the columns were 6 feet in diame- 
ter and 27 in height, with Corinthian capitals and 
' ; a double spiral at the basis."- The rows of col- 
umns were 30 feet apart, the whole height of the 
cloister 50 feet, and above it, at the outer edge, were 
the battlements of the wall. The ceiling was oramen- 
ted with '• deep sculptures in wood, representing many 
sorts of figures." The southern corridor, was on a 
still grander scale ; for here were four rows of col- 
umns, the outer and inner rows being as on the other 
sides, but the two- middle ranges of columns having 

e Joseph us. 



118 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

twice the height of the others and the width here 45 
instead of 30 feet. It is estimated that there were 
altogether 337 of these monolithic columns in the cor- 
ridors : Herod's architecture was truly on a magnifi- 
cent scale. If we consider the extent and depth of 
these corridors, it will be seen that their architec- 
tural effect must have been very grand. 

But all this was only the frame-work for the more 
sacred portions lying within. There were eight gate- 
ways on this platform : one on the north ; one (the 
principal one) on the east ; two on the south ; and 
four on the west, one of the latter opening on a stone 
bridge crossing the Tyropeon, and of sufficient height 
to connect the temple immediately with Mount Zion. 
A visitor entering by one of these gateways, — say 
the eastern one, — would have before him this grand 
spectacle of the court paved with marble, and sur- 
rounded by its triple or quadruple ranges of columns : 
and also immediately in his front, a little to the north 
of the centre of the court, a mass of structures of a 
different kind. The former was called the Court of 
the Gentiles, and was, with its surrounding corri- 
dors, open to all nations : the other structures, which 
we will now describe, were exclusively for persons 
of the Jewish faith. 

There was, first, a platform of 170 cubits front, and 
running westwardly 335 cubits,* ascended to, on all 
sides, by 14 steps ; on the edge of the uppermost of 
these steps, a balustrade of open stone-work 3 cubits 
high and elegantly wrought: in this balustrade, at 

'- This is from Josephus : query, Roman cubits, each 18 in.? oi 
Jewish cubits each 21.8 inches? as he was writing for the Ro- 
mans, probably the former. 



The Temple. 119 

short intervals, pillars with inscriptions in Greek and 
Roman letters, declaring that "no foreigner should 
go within that sanctuary." Within the balustrade 
was a level space 10 cubits wide, called " the Chel," 
and vacant, except that, towards its western end, the 
council room of the Sanhedrim, built partly on the 
more sacred ground of the temple court, was there 
extended so as to embrace also the Chel. Not only 
were foreigners excluded from these boundaries, 
but the sight of all within them was prevented by a 
wall 40 cubits high, running all around, along the inner 
border of the Chel. The Gentile in the court with- 
out might hear the voices of the chanters, and see the 
smoke of sacrifices ascending from the great altar, 
but even his vision might not profane the holy places, 
except so far as it could be indulged through the large 
gateways, of which there were nine, four on each side, 
and one at the east opening through this wall. These 
gateways were large, and were covered over with sil- 
ver and gold : but the one at the east, called " The 
Beautiful Gate,"* was the most magnificent of all. It 
was of Corinthian brass, and 50 cubits in height : its 
doors were 40 cubits high, and were " adorned after a 
most costly manner, as having much richer and thicker 
plates of silver and gold upon them than the others. 
These nine gates had that silver and gold poured upon 
them by Alexander, father of Tiberius. "f Additional 
steps led up from the Chel to this magnificent gate- 
way ; and, passing through it, the visitor would find 
himself then in what was called " The women's court," 
an area 135 cubits square, and surrounded by corri- 
dors, supported by columns as in the larger court 
• See Acts iii, 2. f Jos. De Bel. v. 5. § 3. 



120 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

without. Private passageways at the entrance gave 
the women access to their -separate place, probably 
above the corridors : for, although this was called 
the " Court of the women," it was frequented by the 
other sex as much as by them. It was the place for 
that most extraordinary .scene of dancing, which we 
shall notice, by and by, in describing the Feast of 
Tabernacles. 

It had four gates, one on each side ; — the Beautiful 
gate on the east ; and opposite to it, on the west, a 
large and very rich one called Nicanor. This last 
was reached by an ascent of 15 steps from the women's 
court,, and gave admittance to the higher platform and 
court, called " The Court of Israel," sometimes termed 
simply " The Court." This was 135 cubits from north 
to south, and 187 from east to west, with columns and 
corridor as in the other courts. But the reader must 
not suppose this area to be all plain, as in the women's 
court; for here was the great altar, and beyond it 
the temple itself. Standing at its eastern gate of en- 
trance, Nicanor, (it had three others on each side,) the 
visitor would see before him, at 11 cubits distance, a 
low wall, running across the court, and separating him 
from the " Court of the Priests :" beyond that, at 11 
cubits, the great altar, 24 cubits square and 10 in 
height, with an inclined plane of ascent on its southern 
side. Then, beyond the altar, was the Temple. 

This last stood on a platform the highest of them 
all. Its porch or entrance 100 cubits wide, and of the 
same height, was reached in front and at its two ends, 
by 12 steps commencing not far from the altar and 
formed in pairs, 3 cubits between each pair. Jose- . 
phus says : " The outward face of the temple, in its 



The Temple. 121 

front, wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either 
men's minds or their eyes ; for it was covered all over 
with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first 
rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, 
and made those who forced themselves to look upon it 
to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done 
at the sun's own rays. But the temple appeared to 
strangers, when they were at a distance, like a moun- 
tain covered with snow ; for as to those parts of it 
that were not gilt, they were exceeding white. On its 
top it had spikes with sharp points, to prevent "any 
pollution of it by birds sitting upon it. Of its stones, 
some of them were forty-five cubits [67 feet] in 
length, five in height and six in breadth."* It was 
of such as these that the disciples said to Christ, 
11 Master see what manner of stones and buildings are 
here : 7 ' as if such solidity might set at defiance all 
common human events. Indeed, every part of the 
Mountain of the House combined great massiveness 
with richness of decoration, and often with elegance. 
The front of the temple was pierced by an immense 
open entrance 70 cubits high and 25 cubits broad, 
of which Josephus says, " This gate had no doors ; 
for it represented the universal visibility of heaven, 
and that it cannot be excluded from any place." It 
seems to have been an arched way 16 feet in depth 
(the thickness of the front) with sides highly enriched 
with architectural devices ; and in this opening was 
trailed the celebrated vine of beaten gold, the clus- 
ters to which were 5 or 6 feet in length .t Of this 

* Bel. v, 5, § 6. 

f Josephus De Bel. v, 5, § 4. Tacitus says, " But because their 
[Jewish] priests when they play on the pipe and timbrels, wear 

.6 



122 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

vine, the Talmud says, " For men would be offering, 
some gold to make a leaf, some a grape, some a 
bunch ; and these were hung upon it, and so it was 
increasing continually."* Tacitus calls the building 
immence opulentia templum.f 

This was only the porch of the temple, which, nar- 
rower than the porch, extended back at right angles 
to it ; so that the whole structure was in a form 
like this JL. Back of this lofty arched way, was 
another 55 cubits high, and 16 wide ; and then were 
folding doors 20 cubits high and each 5 cubits wide, 
giving admittance towards the body of the temple ; 
next to these a veil ; in the rear of this, folding 
doors similar to the last. The outer pair were com- 
monly called by the Jews " the great door of the 
temple " because it had " a great front ;" and, of this, 
we have the record that, " the morning sacrifice was 
never killed till this door was opened ;" and that 
" he that was to slay the sacrifice, killed him not till 
he heard the noise of the great gate opening." 

'None but the priests could pass these doors : and 
they, entering, would find themselves now in " the 
Holy Place," a room 40 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 
in height : " the floor planked with fir-boards and then 
gilt with gold :" the walls and ceiling of cedar, both 
gilt likewise : the walls carved into branches and 
open flowers to the height of 50 cubits ; above which 
were windows admitting light. In this room were 

ivy around their head, and a golden vine has been found in their 
temple, some have thought that they worshiped our father Bac- 
chus, the conqueror of the east ; whereas the ceremonies of the 
Jews do not at all agree with those of Bacchus." 

* Light-foot. 

f De Jud. lib. v, cap. 8. 



The Temple. 123 

the 7-branched golden candlestick, 4J feet higli ; the 
table of show-bread, 2 cubits long by 1 in breadth ; 
and the altar of incense, a cubit square and 2 cubits 
in height. 

Beyond these, at the end of this room, hung a veil ; 
and, a cubit further on, a second veil, this second the 
one spoken of by Josephus and others as " the veil 
of the temple.' 7 This latter was the one rent at the 
time of our Saviour's death. No one might lift these 
veils and pass beyond except the High Priest alone. 

The room to which this gave admittance, u The 
Holy of Holies/ 7 was 20 cubits square and as many 
in height, and was gilt throughout, — the floor, as well 
as the walls and ceiling ; the walls also enriched 
with precious stones. " In this there was nothing at 
all. It was inaccessible and inviolable, and not to 
be seen by any ; and was called the Holy of Holies. 77 

Attached to each side of this main building, which 
was 100 cubits in height, were three stories of small 
chambers for temple purposes : a similar set, two 
stories in height, being also at the western end. The 
central, or main building, rose considerably above all 
these; The walls in these edifices were of great thick- 
ness (five or six cubits) and solidity, as was requisite 
in a country subject to earthquakes. The porch ex- 
tended fifteen cubits on each side beyond the main 
building and its attached chambers : the steps leading 
up to it have been described as in pairs, three cubits 
between each pair j and on these successive platforms, 
or " degrees of steps. 77 the priests stood when they 
sounded the trumpets, and also when, accompanied by 
other instrumental music, they chanted the psalms. 

Women were admitted beyond their own court, 



124 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

only when they brought sacrifices : the Jewish men 
might come into the court of Israel : they, and the 
women also, were allowed to pass the low boundary 
inclosing the court of priests, when they came to 
touch the sacrifices they were about to offer on the 
great altar within that court. 

What a contrast to those temple scenes in the an- 
cient times ; — the old worship, the innumerable sacri- 
fices, the rejoicing crowds at the festivals, the priest, 
the rabbi, the lordly Pharisee ; — to all this, what a 
contrast, now, in the scenes among the Jews at Jeru- 
salem, to which city they yet come, often from far 
distant lands, to pray, and mourn, and to die. At 
the south-western angle of the old wall of the Moun- 
tain of the H6use, are several courses of stones in 
their original position ; among them a portion of an 
arch of the bridge leading from the temple across the 
Tyropeon. It is a retired spot, and here the Jews 
may be very frequently seen, with their lips at the 
joints between the stones, praying, so thai their 
breath in supplication may pass in towards the sacred 
ground. No one but a Mahommedan is allowed to 
enter on the paved court above, once the temple pre- 
cincts ; but the hearts of the Israelites still warm with 
affection towards their holy place ; and, when they 
die, their bodies are carried across the Kcdron, and 
buried on the lowest slopes of the Mount of Olives, 
where the shadows of Moriah may, as the sun de- 
clines, be cast across their graves. They believe, also, 
that in this valley of Jehoshaphat will be the final 
scene of the judgment day : and that those who rise 
there will have peculiar advantages. 
Extensive vaults of masonry have been, for some 



The Temple. 125 

years, known to exist under the southern end of the 
Haram, as the Turkish enclosure occupying the site 
of the Temple courts and Temple, is now called, but 
quite recent explorations have brought to our knowl- 
edge many still more interesting facts respecting ex- 
cavations below those grounds ; among them, a reser- 
voir, 736 feet in circumference and 42 in depth, esti- 
mated to have a capacity of two millions of gallons, 
supplied in ancient times by the aqueducts from Solo- 
mon's pools, seven miles distant, towards the south. 
The discoveries, " tend to show that, by a series of 
subterranean tunnels and valves, its abundant waters 
could be used at will for flushing the cess-pools and 
sewers connected with the temple, and carrying off 
all the blood and filth as the Talmud informs us, 
down to the bottom of the Kedron." 

In the great Mosque of Omar, in the Haram, is a 
rock of ruddy limestone, projecting above its floor, 
and regarded with great veneration by the Turks. It 
is irregular in form, nearly sixty feet in its greatest 
diameter, and rises five feet above the marble floor. 

It is supposed to be the spot of Abraham's altar, 
and to have been under the great altar of the ancient 
temple. At its south-east corner is a door, leading 
down to an excavated chamber about fifteen feet 
square and eight in height. The rock overhead is 
pierced with a hole three feet in diameter : and 
directly beneath this, in the floor of the chamber, is 
another hole, with a pit beneath, called by the Turks 
the Well of Spirits-, of unknown depth. 

A channel runs northward to this sacred rock from 
the great cistern above described, enters the Well of 
Spirits, then passes on northward, 120 feet, to a large 



126 Life scenes from the Four Gospels. 

double cistern, hewn in the rock. From thence a 
tunnel descends eastward, is joined by an aqueduct 
from the great tank at the northern side of the 
Haram area, and appears to descend towards the 
Kedron. The Mishna says, " Beneath the altar was a 
cave whereby blood and filth were conveyed down into 
the Kedron valley ; and the gardeners there paid as 
much as purchased a trespass-offering for the right to 
use it for fertilizing their gardens." 

These explorations have been made chiefly by M. 
Pierotti, formerly engineer in the Sardinian service, 
but more recently employed by the Pacha of Jerusa- 
lem. They are imperfect, and, doubtless, much yet 
remains to be discovered. 

Yast subterranean chambers, recently discovered 
under the part of Jerusalem called Acra, will be no- 
ticed in a future part of this work. 



CHAPTER XI. 

TEE TEMPLE CLEANSED — XICODEMU3. 

From Capernaum the Messiah had proceeded to 
Jerusalem, to be present at the Passover ; and. hav- 
ing arrived there, he went up into the temple. It 
was to the Jews the greatest of all their celebrations 
in the reminiscences it awakened, and was, in parts 
of it, a very solemn, in other parts of it a very joy- 
ful festival. The Jews came to it from all parts of 



The Temple Cleansed. — Nicodemus. 127 

the world ; and the numbers congregated at Jerusa- 
lem were calculated on one occasion, for a statistical 
report to be sent to the Roman emperor, and were 
estimated at two millions seven hundred thousand.* 

The reader who has perused the foregoing chapter, 
and has in his mind the grandeur of this Mountain of 
the House, the courts, the altars, and temple, would 
now imagine a scene suited to the place and the so- 
lemnities. But there was one far different — a scene 
of desecration of the sacred spot, of filth, of barter 
and sale, and of the unholy passions which the love 
of money begets. In order to understand it fully, we 
must follow Lightfoot in some details. 

" There were thirteen treasure-chests at the temple, 
which by the Jews were called SJioperoth, which sig- 
nifies properly trumpets, because, trumpet-like, they 
were wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, that 
money put in might not easily be got out. Two were 
for the half-shekel, that every Israelite had to pay for 
the redemption of his soul or life, for which the law 
is given Exodus xxi, 30 : one chest for the payment 
of the last year, if he had missed to pay it at the due 
time ; and the other for the half-shekel for the pre- 
sent. On the first day of Adar [the month preced- 
ing Passover month,] which answers to our February, 
there was a general notice given throughout the coun- 
try that they should provide to pay the half-shekel ; 
and on the 15th of that month the collectors sat in 
every city to gather it ; and they had two chests be- 
fore them, as were at the temple ; and they demanded 
the payment calmly, and used no roughness or com- 
pulsion. On the 25th day of the month the collectors 

e See Josephus De Bel. vi, 9, § 3. 



128 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

began to sit in the temple, and then they forced men 
to pay ; and if any one had not wherewith to pay, 
they took his pawn, and sometimes would take his rai- 
ment perforce. They had a table before them to 
count and change the money upon. 

" A man that brought a shekel to change and must 
have half a shekel again, the collector was to have some 
profit upon the change, and that addition was called 
Colbon. * * The Talmud and other authors dis- 
course largely about this colbon, and who was to pay 
it, and who to be quit from it, and how much to be 
paid, and to like purpose ; but the general conclusion 
is still for some profit, which exaction was that which 
caused our Saviour to' overthrow the tables of the 
Colbonists (John ii, 15 ; Matt, xxi, 12 ;) for these re- 
ceivers began to sit in the temple for that purpose 
but eighteen or twenty days before the Passover, and 
continued for that time when the concourse of people 
was greatest, and after it was over and done. 

"And so the market that was in- the temple, the 
sheep and oxen, it is like, were not constantly there, 
but for such times of concourse, when the multitude 
of people and sacrifices were so exceedingly great ; 
though, indeed, there was merchandizing of other 
things there all the year, in the tabernae or shops 
that we have spoken- of [in the Court of the Gentiles, 
just inside the eastern gate.] The place where the 
marketing of the sheep and oxen was, was the great 
spaee of the Mountain of the House [Court of Gen- 
tiles] that lay on the south side of the courts ; for on 
the west and north the rock was too straight for such 
matter ; and on the east was the most common en- 



The Temple Cleansed.— Nicodemus. 129 

trance of the people, and these cattle would have 
stopped up the way. 

" These collectors of the pole-tax (half-shekel) 
probably sat about the east gate, Shushan, as being 
the chiefest entrance."* 

There were, besides those enumerated, money- 
chests for eleven other distinct kinds of collections, 
all in the temple courts ;. and these last remained 
throughout the year. 

What a scene there was, therefore, — not for a 
day, but continuously through their feasts, — in that 
large court belonging to the temple ! In addition to 
the lambs for the Passover supper, there were many 
thousands of sheep and oxen slain at this festival. 
They were brought up here for sale ; and on every 
side chaffering was going on : and, instead of devo- 
tion, the worst feelings of the human heart were 
brought into exercise. From the great altar within 
the more sacred enclosure rose up the smoke of the 
sacrifices ; but the voice of the trumpeter and chant- 
ers there was mixed with or drowned by the 
sounds without, — the tramp and lowing of cattle, the 
angry/ sharp words of buying and selling among 
those demonstrative people, the loud, stern demands 
of the Colbonists or collectors requiring the half- 
shekel, often from the poverty-stricken or reluctant, 
from whtnn their garments were taken by force when 
the mone^- was not paid. 

Such was the view presented, as the Messiah and 
his disciples, having reached the city, went up to the 
courts of the temple, and stood there for a moment 
or two to look around Was he himself an object of 

e Lightfoot— Temple Service. 



130 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

attention by the throngs ? Doubtless, for the disci- 
ples would have told, along the way and among the 
crowds in the city, who it was they were accompany- 
ing ; and John's annunciation must have been re- 
ported over the land. He was now here : he who 
had been called by the prophet at the Jordan — " The 
Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world •" and for whom John had declared that he 
himself was not fit to take the lowest of a menial's 
offices. People saw him going up to the temple, and 
followed : they saw him glance and take in all that 
scene of outrage and desecration of the place : saw 
a change pass over him, described in the words of 
David — " The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." 
How grand his countenance was as the emotions 
spread over it ; and no wonder all yielded before him 
in his subsequent, immediate act. " Make not my 
Father's house," he said, " a house of merchandize." 
The cords lying about supplied him with a scourge : 
but more potent still was the moral effect in a wide 
consciousness among the multitudes that one was 
among them invested with a mysterious authority 
greater than man's ; and in the conviction also that all 
this scene throughout the courts had been an offence 
against Go What assistance willing hands may 
have given we know not, but the temple was cleared 
by him of its traffickers and cattle, and the tables of 
the money changers were overturned, and the money 
scattered upon the pavement. The place was cleansed 
of its pollution received from the low passions of 
men. 

It was a bold and daring act ; for the simple tol- 
eration of this abuse of the temple courts, directly 



The Temple Cleansed — Nicodemus. 131 

under the eye of the Sanhedrim, might be considered 
as equivalent to giving it their official sanction ; and 
we may well believe that, among the angry traffick- 
ers hurrying away and the enraged Colbonists, many 
an eye was turned towards the council-house project- 
ing on to the Chel, with an appeal to the rulers to 
interfere. Indeed, the money-changers might con- 
sider themselves outraged while performing an act 
having, to some extent, the approbation of their laws ; 
and, all who did not look underneath the surface of 
these old usages, and see the low, bad passions which 
they engendered, and the corrupting influences ema- 
nating from this sacred place, must have gazed with 
mixed feelings on the act. But only one feeling they 
could have, while looking at the principal actor, and 
noting the lofty moral sentiment expressed in his eyes 
and face, and the firmness and determination there, 
the full consciousness also of right, and that power of 
Presence which the right always gives, and gave more 
particularly on this occasion. There was power there, 
a strange, mysterious power, which had made all give 
way before him, as if intuitively feeling that the Mas- 
ter, greater than their Rabbis, was in the courts. — Still 
the multitudes looked towards the Sanhedrim room 
with much earnest curiosity as to the effect which these 
proceedings would have on that assembly. 

The rulers must have gazed with excited feelings on 
that scene in the courts, — the hurried departure of the 
traders, the confusion and anger of the money-changers, 
the evidence that the better feelings of the multitude 
there were with Christ • and with perhaps also a latent 
conviction that the abuses of the temple courts had 
become disgraceful and needed a correcting hand. 



132 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

But they did not wish to see this hand applied for the 
correction ; for enmities towards the Messiah were, in 
their hearts, already taking strength. They had heard, 
— they could not but have heard. — of John's annuncia- 
tion respecting him as the Christ ; and the feelings to- 
wards John, and all connected with him, had the ran- 
cor resulting from his denunciations against them, 
selves, Pharisees and Scribes, as a brood of vipers. 
All other intelligence respecting the Messiah, showed 
this latter' to be one leading on in a course far different 
from theirs ; no scholastic state, no lordliness of man- 
ner, no assumptions, and yet with power strangely 
mixed with his humility of life. They had been ac- 
customed to see men set themselves up as leaders of 
new religious sects or political companies, especially of 
late, and to find them soon disappear : but here was 
one who had been so wonderfully heralded : who made 
no pretensions as a leader, except to draw around him 
a few very humble men ; and who yet, in humility, had 
the marks of indefinable greatness, which, while it 
puzzled, also impressed and overawed.' They saw iti 
all exhibited that day in the temple courts ; the act 
itself seeming to be an undignified one ; and yet snow- 
ing a loftiness of religious feeling, and also power ; 
and having moreover the true dignity of that which 
causes reverence for God and his services to be para- 
mount among men. * 

Eighteen years previously, this -same individual, 
then a lad of twelve years of age, had stood in that 
Sanhedrim room, perplexing the Rabbis by his ques- 
tions, and showing a wisdom far superior to his years. 
Now he appeared there differently, heralded as the 
Christ by one whom the people all believed to be a 



The Temple Cleansed.— NrcoDEiius. 133 

prophet. What should the rulers believe? How 
could they accept as the Messiah, one so different 
from all their anticipations ? If he were the Christ, 
what would become of all their hopes of an universal 
Jewish dominion, and of supreme rank and power 
for themselves, these rulers ? But yet, what was he, 
so strangely invested with such greatness here before 
their eyes, and with such a Presence ? 

Such thoughts pass rapidly through men's minds 
when in an excited state ; and to these rulers they 
were inconclusive. But they would demand some 
proof of his authority ; and, therefore, presenting 
themselves, they asked, 

" What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou 
doest these things ?." 

He answered in figurative language (a common 
mode of speech in that country) signifying that the 
sign should be by his resurrection ; and, mistaking 
his language, they replied, " Forty and six years was 
this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in 
three days." 

They seem to have been baffled in their inquiries, 
suggested, doubtless, by no friendly spirit ; while the 
Messiah himself did not wish there to enter into con- 
troversy with these excited men. But one of their 
number, Nicodemus by name, was apparently a man 
seeking earnestly after truth ; for he soon afterwards 
sought a private interview. He came by night. 

Why by night ? It may be that he thought his 
visit would have fewer interruptions at that hour ; 
but the motive was apparently a less commendable 
one, — that fear which makes many an individual now 
shrink from being known to be an inquirer respect- 



134 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ing Christ. He appears to have been a man of many 
amiable qualities, but overcome by moral timidity ; 
and so he remained, till after the crucifixion, amid 
the heart-rending scenes of which event all other feel- 
ing was lost in the greatness of his love ; and then, 
from the humility of his utter prostration in spirit, he 
rose up erect in manly, Christian strength. 

It was a most interesting occasion, when the two 
sat facing each other in that night scene, by the dim 
light of the lamp ; the ruler, with his earnest looks 
fixed on Christ ; feeling himself to be in the presence 
of one invested with divine authority ; reverent, yet 
hesitating ; shrinking, awed, yet won ; the Messiah 
reading all his heart and mind, not approving, and 
yet pitying and gentle. The ruler began : 

"Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come 
from God ; for no man can do these miracles that 
thou doest, except God be with him." 

The answer seems to have plunged at once into 
Nicodemus' case, and with emphasis: 

" Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man 
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 
You must have the new birth , which will make another 
being of you ; will change your very soul, and make 
you decided for the truth, whithersoever your con- 
victions may lead you, whether before the Sanhedrim 
or before kings, for my sake. 

That was always the clear teaching of Christ to 
his disciples. He began it here, before Nicodemus, 
the Pharisee and ruler, coming by night :— the new 
birth changing a man and making him a new crea- 
ture, one fully Christ's, and ready to acknowledge 
him, by day and by night, before the world, as well 



The Temple Cleansed. — Nicodemus. 135 

as in the secret heart. No wonder that it was thrown 
directly at Nicodemus, without introduction, except 
the emphatic verily, as he sat there, in that place to 
which he had come under cover of the night, probably 
afraid to act as his conscience told him to do. " You 
must be a new man, born again, a brave and open 
follower, before rulers and before the world, ere you 
can be fit to be acknowledged by me." 

The heroism of Christianity, moral and physical, is 
one of its most prominent characteristics. The very 
entrance into the new life is with that principle in- 
fused into the whole being ; not forming the new life, 
%>ut one of its attendants. That strongest trial which 
man or woman can endure, tending to lift us up into 
the highest nobility of being, must be borne at once. 
The Messiah himself took the lead in such heroism, 
there in Jerusalem ; now, in the humility, when he 
could have avoided it, and afterwards on the cross. 
In this address to Nicodemus, he refers to his own 
coming death by violence : " For as Moses lifted up 
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son 
of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have eternal life :" and then 
he spoke of the love of God, and of its action, in a 
sentence containing a whole body of divinity in itself: 
" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life." 

The word " new-birth" was not a strange one to 
Jewish ears. " If any man become a proselyte, he is 
like a child new-born." " The Gentile that is made 
a proselyte, and a servant that is made free, behold, 



136 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

he is like a man new-born,"* are words from their 
aneient Rabbis ; but it was a new doctrine to be 
urged upon one already a Jew ; and Nicodemus re- 
ceived it with expressions of surprise. 

The Messiah, after this, remained a short time in 
Judea, during which his disciples were administering 
the new ordinance of baptism to the multitudes offer- 
ing themselves. Reports were quickly carried to 
the Pharisees that the number even exceeded those 
who were resorting to John y[ and the disciples of 
the latter hearing a similar rumor, hurried to their 
Master with a complaint that u all men came unto 
him." John stopped complaints quickly by declaring 
that the Messiah "must increase, but he must de- 
crease. • Pie that cometh from above is above all : 
he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the 
earth : he that cometh from heaven is above all. * * 
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life » 
and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, 
but the wrath of God abideth in him. "J 

But the career of the Baptist himself was approach- 
ing towards its close. He had been preaching and 
administering the new ordinance for about a year and 
a half, when he was seized by the soldiers of Herod 
Antipas, in whose district he was, and was hurried off 
to the castle of Macherus, situated towards the south- 
ern end of Perea, and not far from the eastern bor- 
ders of the Dead Sea. His voice, which had runs: 
out so boldly against all wicked men, while it was 
also gentle and kind to the penitent, had now given 
unpardonable offence in the royal household itself. 

° See Lightfoot, in loco. f John iv, 1, 2. \ John iii, 20-36. 



In Samaria and Galilee. 137 

The implacable, deadly hate of a woman had been 
aroused. 

Herod, in one of his journeys, had become enam- 
ored of Herodias, wife of his brother Philip ; and 
although she was his niece, he persuaded her to leave 
her husband and form a new connexion with himself. 
John fearlessly denounced the libertine act, and so 
brought upon himself the wrath of the king, and the 
vengeance of the still more vindictive paramour. 
Herod, doubtless, gave out the report,, such as we 
have seen in a former chapter as stated by Josephus ; 
but the result to John, a year and a half after this, 
fully verifies the Scripture account. 

We accompany the bold, brave man to his place of 
confinement : we see him, whose life had always been 
so free and untrammeled, shut up, and wearing away 
his energies in the chafings in the prison-house : we 
watch him, day after day, wondering whether relief 
would not come ; whether the tyrant would not re- 
lent ; whether the Divine power would not inter 
pose, and we find him still a prisoner there, till his 
heart was weary and sick in the hope deferred. 



CHAPTER XII. 

IN SAMAPJA AND GALILEE. 

From Jerusalem, the Messiah and his disciples re- 
turned to Galilee, taking the shorter way through Sa- 
maria. After travelling on, about 30 miles, through a 



138 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

country, which, in their case, gave rise to no recorded 
incident, the road descended into a plain about 12 
miles in length, crossed midway along, at right angles, 
by a valley running east and west. Tlio intersection 
of the plain and valley is an interesting spot : for, at 
this place, is a deep well, identified, beyond doubt, as 
the one dug by Jacob, when, on his return from his 
eventful journey into Mesopotamia, he stopped here 
for some time, and purchased a piece of ground from 
Hamon, the father of Shechem. To this spot also the 
embalmed body of Joseph (and probably the bodies of 
his brethren) was brought from Egypt for interment. 
Here, immediately on the west of the plain, are Mounts 
Gerazim and Ebal, each about 800 feet in height, their 
rocky, precipitous sides being separated by the narrow 
valley alluded to : and beyond them, where the valley 
expands into a spot of exceeding beauty and fertility, 
lies the city of Nabulus, the Shechem or Sychar of the 
ancient times : it is about a mile and a half from Ja- 
cob's well, but seems formerly to have approached 
nearer to it than at present. 

> The Messiah, wearied with his journey, sat down by 
£he side of the well, while the disciples went to 
Shechem to purchase food ; and a woman coming to 
draw water, he asked her to give him drink. Her 
reply had reference to the usual violent antipathy of 
the Jews towards the Samaritans : but the result of the 
interview was a gathering about him of the people 
from the city, and his staying with them two days. 

The old partition wall broken down ! It was in- 
deed a strange scene in Samaria, to see a Jew eat, 
drink and sleep in their houses : for, as we have al- 
ready remarked, what a Samaritan ate as food became, 



In Samaria and Galilee. 139 

from that fact, as swine's flesh in the eyes of the Jew : 
no Samaritan might be made a proselyte ; and no one 
of them could by any possibility attain, in Jewish esti- 
mation, to eternal life. Still more surprising to the 
Samaritans was it to hear of his declaration to the wo- 
man that " the hour cometh when ye shall neither in 
this mountain, [Gerazim,] nor yet at Jerusalem, wor- 
ship the Father ;" for " the hour cometh, and now is, 
when the true worshipers shall worship Cae Father in 
spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh such to wor- 
ship him." The disciples followed him ; their old 
feelings shocked, wondering at the strange proceed- 
ings among the Samaritans, but deterred by reverence 
from questioning their Master. To Peter it must have 
been especially puzzling ; for, even after three years of 
Christ's teachings, it required a, miracle to reconcile 
that apostle to a hearty fellowship with Gentiles ; and 
Samaritans were regarded as even worse than these 
last. When they left Shechem the inhabitants de- 
clared, " We know that this is indeed the Christ, the 
Saviour of the world. "* 

In Galilee, to which he now proceeded, reports con- 
cerning him were spreading rapidly : for people from 
all that region had been to the Passover ; and they 
were telling, everywhere, what they had seen and 
heard at Jerusalem. Among that simple, agricultural 
people, accustomed to regard with reverence every- 
thing belonging to their religious metropolis, the news 
was astounding : — and deepest interest, wonder, hopes, 
doubts, agitations of all kinds, met Christ and his dis- 
ciples, and were depicted on people's countenances 
wherever he went. An added rumor now gave in- 
6 John iv, 4-42. 



140 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

tensity to tins interest ; for it was asserted that, in Sa- 
maria, he had declared himself to be the Messiah, the 
Christ." The claim, astonishing as it was to every 
one, took force, as people gazed and listened ; for he 
began immediately to preach in their synagogues, and 
it was evident to their apprehensions that tjiere was 
something most extraordinary in his words and looks. 
He " had returned in the power of the Spirit :" and if, 
in after times, the face of Stephen was " as it had been 
the face of an angel," as, filled with the Holy Ghost, 
he spoke before the council of Jerusalem, what must 
have been tl^e sight here, as Christ preached in these 
synagogues, his countenance lighted up with the Divine 
expressions, his eyes gleaming in the supernatural af- 
flatus, his doctrines sublime though clear, his manner 
having the stamp of authority, while at the same time 
it was winning and gentle ! The result might well be, 
as we are told in the Scripture that it was, " He was 
glorified of all."t 

Proceeding thus onward, he came again to Cana, 
the scene of the marriage feast. — There a man hur- 
ried into his presence : — what a look there was in the 
man's eyes, — entreaty, hope, anxiety — all that would 
be in a father's face, when a son was sick — near to 
death — and here was, perhaps, relief! He was a no- 
bleman of Capernaum, about 18 miles distant : he had 
heard that Christ had returned from Judea to Galilee, 
and had hastened to him, and his beseeching cry was 
" to come down and heal his son." His entreaty 
seemed to be warded off : 

" Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not be- 
lieve."— 

e See John iv, 26. f ^uke iv, 1-1-15. 



At Nazareth. 141 

— " Sir, come down ere my child die." 

" Go thy way, thy son liveth." 

— The man must have sprung to his feet with joy ; 
for he believed. He hurried homeward ; and was met 
on the road by his servants come to inform him that his 
son was alive, and that the fever had left him. On 
inquiry it was known, that the relief came when the 
healing words were pronounced at Cana : and the 
father " believed and his whole house."* 



CHAPTER XIII. 

AT NAZARETH. 

There was, just after this, a scene at Nazareth, very 
far different from this last ; — violent passions among 
the inhabitants, railing, personal violence upon the 
Messiah, and ail attempt to put him to death. Yet 
Nazareth was the place where he had been brought up ; 
and where all his characteristics of greatness of char- 
acter combined with amiableness must have been well 
known. Such traits, however, often only provoke hos- 
tility among people of an opposite kind : and the ex- 
clamation of Nathanael at the Jordan, " Can there any 
good thing come out' of Nazareth?" shows us what 
was the reputation of this place. 

No portions of Palestine are so grand in general 
features, or so interesting in detail, as those imme- 
diately surrounding Nazareth, and in view from the 

* See John iv, 46-53. 



142 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

adjoining heights. The town lies imbedded in a 
range of hills running east and west, forming the 
northern boundary of the plain of Esdraelon, which 
spreads out, immense in extent, yet with scenery 
varied, in every part. The eastern edge of this plain 
may be said to rest on the Jordan, along which it ex- 
tends north and south about twenty-four miles : Car- 
mel, running north-west and south-east, forms its 
Other boundary. But only the extreme western ex- 
tremity, eighteen miles north and south, and fifteen 
miles east and west, is level ; the eastern portion 
having, towards its southern end, Gilboa, 1850 feet in 
height, running parallel with Carmel ; and just north 
of that, the Little Hermon, 1300 feet high • and then 
again, connected with a spur running out from the 
Nazareth hills, the otherwise isolated, cone-shaped 
Mount Tabor, 1800 feet in height. The foot of Ta- 
bor is about six miles from Nazareth. 

This town is reached by a short valley running up 
from the plain, and rests on the western side of a re- 
cess, a mile in length by half a mile in width. It con- 
tains now about 3000 inhabitants, probably about the 
same number as in the Saviour's time. Thompson says, 
" The valley is certainly small, but then the different 
swellings of the surrounding hills give the idea of re- 
pose and protection. 77 "* Among the hills are precipi- 
tous rocky bluffs, adjoining the town." 

Eobinson, who was by no means given to enthusi- 
asm in his descriptions, thus speaks of the prospect 
from the hill immediately back of Nazareth, the sum- 
mit of which is 1100 feet above the sea ; — a spot to 
which, doubtless, the Saviour had often withdrawn 
•* The Laud and the Book.'.' 



At Nazareth. 143 

for enjoyment and reflection, while his earthly life 
was growing up in that grandeur which harmonized 
so well with this scene. That traveller says : " I 
walked out alone to the top of the hill over Nazareth, 
where stands the neglected Wely of Neby Isma'il. 
Here, quite unexpectedly, a glorious prospect opened 
on the view. The air was perfectly clear and serene j 
and I shall never forget the impression I received, as 
the enchanting panorama burst suddenly upon me. 
There lay the magnificent plain of Esdraelon, or, at 
least, all its western part ; on the left was seen the 
round top of Tabor over the intervening hills, with 
portions of the Little Hermon and G-ilboa, and the 
opposite mountains of Samaria, from Jenin westward 
to the lower hills extending towards Carmel. Then 
came the long line of Carmel itself, with the convent 
of Elias on its northern end, and Haifa on the shore 
at its foot. In the west lay the Mediterranean gleam- 
ing in the morning sun ; seen first far off in the south 
on the left of Carmel ; then intercepted by that moun- 
tain, and again appearing on its right, so as to in- 
clude the whole bay of 'Akka, and the coast stretch- 
ing far north to a point N. 10° W. 'Akka itself 
(Ptolemais, now St. Jean dAcre) was not visible, 
being hidden by intervening hills. Below, on the 
north, was spread out another of the beautiful plains 
of northern Palestine, called el-Buttauf ; it runs from 
east to west, and its waters are drained off westward, 
through a narrower valley, to the Kishon (el-Muk- 
atta,) at the base of Carmel. On the southern border 
of the plain the eye rested on a large village, near the 
foot of an isolated hill, with a ruined castle on the 
top ; this was Sefuriah, the ancient Sepphoris or Dio 



144 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

Cffiserea. Beyond the plain el-Buttauf, long ridges, 
running from east to west, rise, one higher than an- 
other, until the mountains of Safed overtop them all, 
on which that place is seen — ' a city set upon a hill.' 
Further towards the right is a sea of hills and moun- 
tains, backed by the higher ones beyond the Lake of 
Tiberias, and in the north-east by the majestic Her- 
mon, with its icy crown. * * I remained for some 
hours upon this spot, lost in contemplation of the 
wide prospect, and of the events connected with the 
scenes around. In the village below, the Saviour of 
the world had passed his childhood ; and although 
we have few particulars of his life, yet there are cer- 
tain features of nature w.hich meet our eyes now just 
as they once met his."* 

Among such scenes Jesus had lived, doubtless in 
far more hearty communion with them than with 
his townsmen of Nazareth. He might now look for 
a more favorable reception of his teachings in any 
other part of Galilee than in this place ; for, even if 
its people had been of a better description of charac- 
ter than they were, still the jealousies felt towards one 
who had grown up among them with no advantages 
of education or position, and who yet had suddenly be- 
come distinguished by fame, and was asserting such 
remarkable claims, would predispose them to regard 
him with suspicion if not with hostility. The ru- 
mors that had been brought to them were startling ; 
-—the proclamation of John, the scenes at Jerusalem, 
the miracles, his teachings in the synagogues ; there 
was in all this something to shake their prejudices 
and to puzzle and perplex them ; but they argued, 

" Biblical Researches." 



At Nazareth. 145 

" Are not his parents here with us ; his orolhers and 
Bisters?" Prejudice still had rule; and the very 
greatness of his claims made the barriers to their bo. 
lief in him the stronger. When the citizens of Naza- 
reth heard, therefore, that he had come among them, 
and was about to proclaim his doctrines in their syn- 
agogues, there was a great agitation in the commu- 
nity ; — anger, disdain, envy, and, probably, old dis- 
likes , the more bitter from the consciousness that 
they were unmerited, — all this mixing with the in- 
tense curiosity which was in every one's heart. One 
thing they felt might possibly # satisfy them, namely, 
a miracle ; and they might feel that they had a higher 
claim to miracles than Cana, or even Jerusalem itself. 
Report had told them of wonders performed in both 
these places ; perhaps they would witness similar, or 
even greater things, in Nazareth. So they hoped. 
Candor and fair judgment could not be expected 
among such a people ; and a teacher given to expe- 
diencies would have avoided, in this preaching in 
their synagogue, what would be offensive to them ; 
any prominence to the high claims of being the Mes- 
siah, and any allusion to their desire for a miracle to 
gratify curiosity. But Christ' was not given to con- 
sult expediencies rather than the truth. 

People had hurried to the synagogue. At the 
proper time in its services he stood up to read ; and 
the book of Isaiah being handed to him he turned to 
the passage — " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 
because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to 
the poor ; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, 
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering 



146 Life -scenes from the Four Gospels. 

of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are 
bound, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." 

It was a well-known prophecy referring to the 
Messiah ; and often, through the long years since Isa- 
iah's time, had the Jews fed themselves with glorious 
hopes from these words and those immediately fol- 
lowing. — He closed the book and handed it back to 
the minister, and sat down, — the posture of speakers. 
—What a breathless silence there was in that assem- 
bly I He broke it by saying : 

" This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." — 

— It was a re-asseriion of that which they under- 
stood he had claimed, now made directly before 
them : but hostility was for the present repressed ; 
for there was something in his look and manner that 
made astonishment keep other feelings in check ; a 
Btrange Presence that gave authority to his words. 

By Presence is meant that something undefinable 
which has impressiveness in any company where a 
person of reputation and worth is felt to be ; — in this 
case heightened by " the power of the Spirit " acting 
in conjunction with his earnestness and his inward 
greatness making manifestation of itself in his coun- 
tenance. The people of Nazareth whispered to each 
other, " Is not this Joseph's son?" and the question 
would express not only astonishment, but, among 
many, rage also at his claims. There was a mixed 
feeling, and it would soon show itself among these 
demonstrative people. He saw their feelings, and 
gave them a warning ; for he now began to speak 
again, aud, as he did so, silence fell on the assembly, 

" Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physi- 



It Nazareth. 147 

clan, heal thyself! whatsoever we have heard done in 
Capernaum do also here in thy country." 

— Their hopes were high, their curiosity now most 
intense : — Was he going to perform a miracle there ? 
But he always reprobated idle curiosity, and espe- 
cially that which would desecrate the miracle-work 
ing pQwer for its gratification. So now he gave 
the reproof. — They were wound up to the highest ex- 
pectancy — and he spoke, "Verily I say unto you, no 
prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell 
you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the 
days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three 
yeara and six months, when great famine was through- 
out all the land : but unto none of them was Elias 
sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, [a heathen 
place] and unto a woman that was a widow. And 
many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the 
prophet ; and none of them were cleansed save Naa- 
man, the Syrian [a heathen] ." — 

— There was a storm of rage. Every angry feeling 
in them was roused at this intimation that the heathen 
might be preferred before them. They rushed upon 
the speaker ; and forgetting all else than what they 
considered so gros s an insult to their nation and them- 
selves, they hurried him out of their town to a near 
precipice, bent on hurling him over. But their rage 
was futile. The super-human power was now exerted ; 
" he passed through the midst of them and went his 
way/ 7 leaving them to subdue, as they might, their im- 
potent wrath. 

He came thence to Capernaum ; and now he made 
that city his home — such a home, at least as his fre- 
quent journeys and labors would admit : for his time 



l¥8 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

on earth was not to be one of quiet enjoymeat, but of 
self-denial, and of labor wherever the good of others 
should require. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE LAKE OF GALILEE. — CAPERNAUM. 

How gem-like, amid its beautiful environments, even 
in our day, is the Lake of Galilee ! but how much 
more beautiful in those ancient times ! Its immediato 
surroundings are sufficiently marked with what is 
grand in nature to give it .something of that charao 
ter ; but it is chiefly remarkable for a gentle, quiet, 
lasting beauty, which never tires ; for this has every 
variety of form, and changes at every hour of the 
day. Every one who reads appreciatingly the Gos- 
pels, feels that he must love this lake on account of 
its associations : but it is a place very lovely in itself, 
and in the natural surroundings with which it is en- 
riched. 

■ 

The approach to it is thus described by Dr. Olin, 
one of the most graphic writers of travels in the Holy 
Land. He had been travelling, all the day, over the 
plain of Esdraelon, which, after leaving Mount Ta : 
bor, may be said to continue (though with a more un- 
dulating surface) in a northeasterly direction quite to 
the lake. Towards evening he came to a level spot 
of great fertility, and under cultivation, the thick 



The Lake of Galilee. — Capernaum. 149 

grass on its waste places sprinkled over with flowers : 
and he says, " My attention had been so fully occupied 
with this scene of loveliness, and these unusal tokens 
of industry and cultivation, always the more striking 
from being rare, as not to have heeded our progress, 
until we reached the eastern border of the plain. We 
were now upon the brow of what must appear to the 
spectator, at its base, a lofty mountain which bounds 
the deep basin of the sea of Galilee, and forms the 
last step in the descent from the very elevated plain 
over which we had been journeying during the long 
day. The sun had just set behind us in a blaze of 
red light, which filled the western sky for many de? 
grees above the horizon, and was slightly reflected 
from the smooth glassy surface of the beautiful lake, 
whose opposite shore was visible many miles on the 
right and left, rising abruptly out of the water into 
an immense and continuous bulwark, several hundred 
feet in height, grand and massive but softened by 
graceful undulations, and covered with a carpet of 
luxuriant vegetation from the summit quite down to 
the water's edge. Beyond the lake, stretched out a 
vast, and to our eye, a boundless region, filled up 
with a countless number of beautiful, rounded hills, 
all clad in verdure, which, at this moment, was in- 
vested with a peculiar richness of coloring. In the 
remote distance, though full in our view, the snowy 
top of Mount Hermon was still glittering and bask- 
ing in the beams of the sun, while a chaste, cool dra- 
pery of white, fleecy clouds hung around its base. 
The green, graceful form of Mount Tabor was be- 
hind us, while, on the broad and well-cultivated plain, 
the numerous fields of wheat, now of a dark luxuri- 



150 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ent green, contrasted very strongly and strangely 
with intervening tracts of ploughed ground. Inde- 
pendently of sacred associations, this was altogether 
a scene of rare and unique beauty, nay, of splendid 
magnificence.''* 

Dr. Clarke, the English traveller, says, " It may be 
described as longer and finer than any of the Cum- 
berland lakes." 

It is in shape an irregular oval, 14 miles in length 
by 9 at its greatest breadth, the water of great trans- 
parency and 165 feet in depth. On its eastern side 
the mountains rise abruptly, but with green, sloping 
sides ; and great billows of such hills pass to the east, 
as far as the sight reaches, green but uninhabited, as 
seems to have been the case also in the ancient times. 
On the southwest, the mountain sides are in succes- 
sive off-sets like huge terraces ; and there, four miles 
from the southern end of the lake, is Tiberias, once a 
place of some eminence for its hot baths and schools, 
now decayed and almost in ruins from earthquakes of 
recent date. Passing northwardly from Tiberias 
along the western border of the lake, we come, at 
the distance of three miles, to Mejdel, the ancient 
Magdala ; and, soon afterwards, to a spot where the 
mountains sweep backward for a short space, and 
leave room for the rich plain of Gennesaret. Be- 
yond this plain, northwardly, the hills bordering the 
lake have more gentle upward slopes, and are five or 
six hundred feet in height. 

Capernaum, the home of the Messiah, at intervals, 
for more than two years, was probably at the north- 
ern end of the plain of Gennesaret ; and we will 

C1 Olin's travels. 



The Lake of Galilee. — Capernaum. 151 

therefore give this place more particular attention, 
which, indeed, from its own richness and beauty it 
very well deserves. 

The plain lies at the spot where the lake is widest, 
and a little north of mid-distance on its western shore. 
It is nearly triangular in shape, about three miles 
in length by a mile and a half in its greatest width ; 
is perfectly level and only a few feet above the water. 
It is a place of surpassing fertility. In those eastern 
countries, wherever water can be procured for irri- 
gation, the vegetation is most exuberant ; and even 
the sandy shore at Jaffa, seemingly pure silex, is 
changed by artificial watering, into richly-productive 
gardens ; but at Gennesaret the soil, a dark loam, is 
itself of the greatest natural richness, while four very 
large fountains afford water that, in ancient times, was 
carried by artificial channels all over the plain. On 
its soutk-west side is what is now called the tl Round 
Fountain," inclosed by a low, circular wall, 100 feet 
in diameter, the water about two feet deep, and beau- 
tifully limpid and sweet, bubbling up and flowing out 
rapidly in a large stream to water the plain below. 
Ten minutes' travel northwardly from this conducts 
to another very copious stream, coming down through 
a break in the mountain ; and at the northern end 
of the plain we have another large fountain, gushing 
out from beneath the rocks, while around this, near 
the celebrated Khan Minyah, other smaller fountains 
are clustered. Close by this last spot, the mountain 
comes back again to the lake, and sends a short pro- 
montory out into its waters ; but a fountain a mile 
further north, still larger than any of the former, and 
strong enough to turn several mills a3 it bursts from 



152 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

the rocks, had its waters conveyed by artificial chan- 
nels to the plain of Gennesaret, about' which they 
were distributed by similar means. The abundant- 
supply of water, the natural fertility of the soil, the 
depth of the plain. 622 feet below the level of the 
Mediterranean, and with a hotter climate conse- 
quently than the table-land above, together with the 
adjoining lake, make this spot a very choice one, in 
Galilee, and it had a wide reputation in ancient 
times. Josephu3 says of it : " The country also that 
lies over against this lake hath the same name of 
Gennesaret; its nature is wonderful as well as its 
beauty. Its soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees 
can grow upon it, and the inhabitants, accordingly, 
plant all sorts of trees there ; for the temper of the 
air is so well mixed that it agrees very well with 
those several sorts : particularly walnuts, which re- 
quire the coldest air, flourish there in vast? plenty ; 
there are palm trees also, which grow best in hot air ; 
fig trees also, and olives, grow near them, which yet 
require an air that is more temperate. One may call 
this place the ambition of nature, where it forces 
those plants that are naturally enemies to one an- 
other to agree together : it is a happy contention of 
the seasons, as if every one of them laid claim to this 
country ; for it not only nourishes different sorts of 
autumnal fruits beyond men's expectations, but pre- 
serves them a great while. It supplies men with the 
principal fruits — with grapes and figs continually — 
during ten months in the year, and the rest of the 
fruits, as they become ripe together, through the 
whole year ; for besides the good temperature of the 



At Capernaum and through Galilee. 153 

air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain."* 
Some travellers suppose Capernaum to have been 
three miles further to the north, but the weight of 
evidence seems to place it by the group of fountains 
on the plain itself, at its northern end. It was cer- 
tainly about this portion of the lake shore ; and we 
may believe that the beautiful sheet of water and its 
environments -harmonized well with the feelings of 
Christ, who so often drew, the illustrations to his 
teachings from the scenes of nature, and said of the 
flowers covering these very hills, " Yet I say unto 
you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
like one of these." The whole of Gennesaret was, 
doubtless, then, like a garden in fruitfulness, with 
many villages interspersed or bordering it ; and all 
the country above, on the west, was full of habitations 
"and in the highest state of culture. Indeed the whole 
region from the sea of Galilee westward, quite across 
the plain of Esdraelon to the Mediterranean, was, 
probably, by far the most fertile and populous part 
of Palestine. 



CHAPTER XV. 

AT CAPERNAUM AND THROUGH GALILEE. 

On the Sabbath after his arrival in the city he 
went into the synagogue and taught. People were 
astonished. It was not the jargon of the Scribes, full 

•DeBel. iii, 10, §8. 



154 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

of obscurities, and often of absurdities, such as hare 
come down to us through the subsequent writings of 
their Rabbis, but was clear, fully within the compre- 
hension of his hearers, practical, and above all. had 
an authority in the manner of delivery corresponding 
to the words. No hesitancy or appearance of doubt 
in him who spoke ; but it was the language of one 
who knew ; whose eye swept through all parts of his 
subject, the heavenly as well as the earthly, the di- 
vine as well as the human ; and who felt that he had 
power and authority thus to speak.* " They were 
astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with pow- 
er. 7 7 f In the synagogue was a demoniac, whom he 
healed by his word ; and afterwards, in the house of 
Peter, he restored to health also by his word, the 
mother-in-law of that disciple, sick of a fever. 

Thus the early part of the Sabbath was passed in 
Capernaum ; a time full of wonder and of strange 
surmisings among the people. Twice had this teacher 
declared himself to be the Messiah : once in Samaria, 
and once in Nazareth : but he was so different from 
the Messiah whom the nation had expected : — here, 
no earthly pomp, or glory, and no manifestations of 
a desire for kingly power ; but, on the other hand, 
humility, indifference to rank, and abnegation of all 
human glory. Yet there was a strange mightiness 
in him. The spirits obeyed him. Disease left the 
wan and haggard frame at his command, and health 
flashed over the system : his very presence had a 
power in it ; his manner, so gentle and winning, still 
inspired respect ; his face, through which the inner be- 
* Mark i, 22. f Luke iv, 32. 



At Capernaum and through Galilee. 155 

ing spoke out, seemed to be stamped with divinity it- 
self* , 

Such was this teacher, as he had appeared that day, 
in divine instructions in the synagogue, and afterwards 
among the people, filling them with 'many contradic- 
tory and perplexing thoughts. His healing powers, 
however, they could understand, and these stirred 
them immediately into action ; and there was a hurry- 
ing to and fro, not only in the city, but in all the coun- 
try round about. For the warmest and most active, 
as well as the most blessed sympathies of our nature, 
were reached ; and people were carrying to the bed- 
sides of the afflicted cheering news that a healer was 
among them whose power, both for mental and for 
bodily distress, was equal to every disease. In order 
to appreciate the gladness of such tidings, we must re- 
member the condition of medical science even among 
the most learned practitioners at that time. There 
was a medical school at Antioch, in Syria, and one at 
Alexandria ; but the facts on which the true principles 
ot that science are built are of subsequent discovery ; 
and in Palestine, at the period spoken of, physicians 
were rare, and were little to be relied on when they 
could be procured. The sick were left to perish un- 
aided, or were administered to blindly and with doubt- 
ful result. A modern traveller, speaking of a Mission- 
ary Christian physician, with whom he was journeying 
in this same region of country, says of him, after they 
had stopped, one evening, subsequently to a day's ex- 
plorations, — u Dr. Kelley is still busy with his patients, 
who are all Druses and Mahommeclans. How eagerly 
they listen to him, — he has so won their hearts by his 
benevolent aid ! It is truly touching to see how the 



156 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

poor .and miserable come to him for help for the body, 
and how they go away from him with the first tidings 
[of Christ] that ever met their ears."* 

Evening came on in Capernaum after this preaching 
in the synagogue ; and the* shadows of the Galilean 
hills were cast over the beautiful lake, and went as- 
cending the green sides of the opposite mountains, — a 
fair, quiet, Sabbath-evening scene, without ; but within 
the city all was fermentation and bustle. " All the 
city was gathered together at the door " of the house 
where the Messiah was staying. Gennesaret was a 
thickly settled region, and the country back of Caper- 
naum was almost equally populous ; and the fame of 
Christ as a person wonderful in healing, as well as in 
teaching, had been rapidly spread abroad. -As people 
heard of this certainty of cure, they hurried joyfully 
to communicate the intelligence to the sick. What in- 
telligence it was ! The wan from suffering grew flushed 
with hope : the wasted found sudden energy, and came 
panting on towards the Great Healer, or cried to 
friends for' transportation : the despairing had new 
words of comfort whispered in their ears, and took 
courage for this last . effort : volunteer aid was ready 
for those who needed' it: and speedily, among the 
crowds of the curious, blocking up the street, were in- 
termingled all forms and stages of disease trying to 
force their way. The dying, — could his power reach 
them ? So the anxious friends queried, as they bore 
their precious burdens slowly and tenderly along. The 
chronic cases of many years, — could they be healed ? 
The plaintive voice, so long sharpened by pain, and 
almost unused to any other but outbursts of anguish, — 
* Van de Velde. 



At Capernaum and through Galilee. 157 

could this, ever, be changed into joy and praise ? 
make way ! Let them see that Jesus : let them reach 
this Deliverer : let them come before him that he may 
see the distorted or wasted form, and be moved to 
pity ! And on they struggled ; sometimes shrieking 
in ag;pny, as the crowd unwittingly jostled the couch ; 
sometimes so death-like that consciousness was gone, — 
hope, however, remaining and shown in the tender 
looks bent over the sufferer. And, as the sick were 
borne along, the healed met them with shouts of joy 
and praise to God ; while the wondering crowds 
scarcely could believe their own senses as they saw 
them return, as if brought alive from the dead. — All 
who came were healed, — the diseased both in body 
and mind. 

Thus the night settled down over Capernaum an agi- 
tated city, full of wonder, full also of joy. 

The Messiah, however, did not continue there long ; 
for much work remained to be done in other parts 
of Galilee. Eising in the morning, long before day, 
he went to a retired place for communion with Heaven ; 
but the disciples came to him there with the annuncia- 
tion that " all men were seeking him."""" The multi- 
tudes followed immediately after, with the entreaty 
that he would stay with them ; but he replied, " I must 
preach the kingdom of God to other cities also ; for 
thereto am I sent."f 

Peter and Andrew, and also James and John, had 
returned temporarily to their former occupation as 
fishermen ; but having here received a more formal call 
to discipleship, they were with him again ; and so they 
continued to the end of his ministry. 

* Mark i, 37. t Luke iv, 43. 



158 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

He proceeded now to traverse Galilee ouce more, 
preaching and healing as he went. The multitude 
joining and following him had become very great ; for 
his fame had extended throughout Syria, and to the 
great cities of Decapolis east of the Jordan ; and peo- 
ple from all those regions, and from Jerusalem, and 
Judea generally, as well as from all parts of Galilee 
were hurrying to him : and the sick were brought. — 
" all sick people that were taken with divers diseases 
and torments, and those which were possessed with 
devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that 
had the palsy ; and he healed them.""" 

"What strange sensations there must have been 
among all these multitudes, so intent, scrutinizing, 
watching the sick coming up, and beholding them 
immediately depart well and sound ; joining, if only 
from sympathy, in the words of the healed men glo- 
rifying God ; amazed at all they saw, amazed at what 
they heard ; and yet, with all this, doubting. They 
could not doubt respecting the miracles ; for these 
were obvious to their senses, and were public, and 
repeated, till there could be no question about this 
astonishing power in the Messiah, and respecting the 
endorsement thus given in tkern from Heaven, of his 
teachings and his claims. Yet they were not satis- 
fied. They walked in a maze of thoughts. The Jew- 
ish mind had been cramped for so long a time, so 
dwarfed amid narrow prejudices, that it was difficult 
to give it enlargement of thought, and especially such 
enlargement as Christ was now endeavoring to pro- 
duce — a belief in the brotherhood of mankind. Cicero 
called them suspiciosa ac maledica civitas. Tacitus 
* Matt, iv, 23-25. 



At Capernaum and through Galilee. 159 

says of them, " Connected among themselves by the 
most obstinate and inflexible faith, the Jews extend 
their charity to all of their own profession, while to- 
wards the rest of mankind they nourish a sullen and 
implacable hatred of strangers. The first elements of 
their religion teach their proselytes to despise the 
gods, to abjure their country, and forget their parents 
and children. ' ; * 

Therefore they were obtuse to the truths now 
preached. There was wonderful power as well as 
beauty in these truths whicli their hearts acknowl- 
edged : there was a strange Presence in him around 
whom they were crowding, a seeming glow from 
heaven itself shining out through his countenance ; 
and his miracles had the stamp of divinity upon 
them ; but when he spoke to them of a kingdom in 
men'3 hearts and souls, embracing equally Jew, and 
Roman, and Greek ; making a brotherhood of all 
men, making it a duty to love even their enemies, 
whose iron heel was pressing their necks, their feel- 
ings revolted, and the glorious truths of the new king- 
dorh fell idly on their ear. Their very belief in the 
coming of a Messiah was in such a channel as to in- 
crease their selfishness, and pride, and arrogance, 
and to cause them to be earthly in their most cher- 
ished hopes ; for was he not to make them the su- 
preme rulers on the globe ? This they believed, and 
their hearts rioted in the thoughts of their coming 
worldly triumph. Thus the multitudes, as they fol- 
lowed Christ, and saw ancjjieard, did it in much dark- 
ness of mind — a cherished darkness which most of 
them did not wish to have turned into light. But still 
• Hist, v, .5. 



160 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

they had glimmerings of truth : some sought for 
more ; some believed. 

So they proceeded, closely attending the Messiah 
in his progress through Galilee, watchful, often admir- 
ing, always full of wonder, and full of excitement. 

— But one day they all recoiled in horror and dis- 
may from the presence of Christ ; for there was sud- 
denly at his feet a form that scarcely seemed to he 
human, so disfigured was it with leprosy, the foulest 
and most loathed disease known in their land. It was 
also considered to be contagious when in its advanced 
forms, such as were clearly exhibited in the present 
case. The Jews regarded it as a visitation of Provi- 
dence, and called it " the finger of God f emphati- 
cally, " the -stroke. " Persons infected with it were 
excluded, by their law, from society, and were com- 
pelled to prevent any accidental approach to them by 
giving a distant warning cry of " Unclean, unclean !" 
How this man, if man he might now be called, had 
come to break through this law, it is impossible to 
say. Probably, a sudden hope had made him despe- 
rate in boldness : the crowd had given way before 
him in horror and alarm : and there he was now at 
the feet of Christ, with a plaintive and broken cry, 
" Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." 

A competent writer says of this disease : " A re- 
cent leprosy may be healed, but an inveterate one is 
incurable. " :f * The common marks by which, as 
physicians tell us, an inveterate leprosy may be dis- 
cerned, are these : the voice becomes hoarse, like 
that of a dog which has been long barking, and comes 
through the nose, rather than through the mouth : 
the pulse is email and heavy, slow and disordered ; 



At Capernaum and through Galilee. 161 

the blood abounds "with white corpuscules, * * ; the 
eyes are red and inflamed, and project out of the 
head, but cannot be moved either to the right or left ; 
the ears are swelled and red, corroded with ulcers 
about the roots of them, and encompassed with small 
kernels ; the nose sinks, because the cartilege rots ; 
the nostrils are open, and the passage stopped with 
ulcers at the bottom ; the tongue is dry, black, swelled, 
ulcerated, shortened, divided into ridges, and beset 
with little white pimples ; the skin is uneven, hard, 
and insensible ; even if a hole be made in it, or it 
be cut, a putrefied sanies issues from it instead of 
blood. ""* 

An American author, who, during a residence of 
more than 20 years in Palestine, has seeirthe disease 
in all its forms, thus describes its prog'ress as presented 
to his eyes : " The hair falls from the head and eye- 
brows ; the nails loosen, decay and drop off ; joint af- 
ter joint of the fingers and toes shrink up and fall 
away. The gums are absorbed and the teeth disap- 
pear. The nose, the eyes, the tongue and palate are 
slowly consumed, and finally the wretched victim sinks 
into the earth and disappears, while medicine has no 
power to stay the ravages of this fell disease or even 
to mitigate sensibly its tortures."'!' 

Such was the nature of the disease of this man, who, 
"full of it"$ had now prostrated himself at the Mes- 
siah's feet, with the cry, " Lord, if thou wilt, thou 
canst make me clean." Abject he was in all but his 
faith. Loathsome, but glorious in faith. The body 
a horror, the soul resplendent through his faith. His 

* Robinson's Calmet. 

f Thompson's " Land and the Book." % Luke v, 12. 



162 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

tongue scarcely uttering intelligible sounds ; but pro- 
nouncing the words of faith that brought salvation. 
How the crowds, crushing against each other, gazed 
and watched for the result ! It came immediately. 

" I will, be thou clean ;" and Christ touched him. 

At the word, a transformation took place. The hid" 
g eous disease was gone ; all the foul signs were swept 
away from his person, and he rose to his feet clean and 
sound,* a well man. TTith a thrill of joy — such as no 
thought in our mind can reach — he looked down upon 
himself ;" found that he could use all of his limbs ; felt 
the soundness all through his system ; saw the people 
no longer shrinking from him in abhorrence, but gazing 
in admiration and kindness, and approaching him — 
lately so shunned, — to satisfy themselves of this amaz- 
ing change. His plaintive cry, " Unclean, unclean," 
was exchanged for thanksgivings and loud rejoicings 
amid the congratulations which soon poured upon 
him from the multitudes around. The man's burst of 
joy over, the Messiah charged him not to publish this 
abroad : for, in the strange city where they were, the 
running of crowds, and the confusion and uproar, 
might give offence to the authorities, as well as inter- 
rupt his work of teaching ; but the man's wild joy 
could not be restrained, and he published and " blazed it 
abroad. " The Messiah, in consequence, could no longer 
openly enter the city, but kept outside, away from its 
thoroughfares : the people, however, came to him 
there, crowding from every quarter, far and near, in 
order to be healcd.f 

But we must return to observe the central person in 

« Mark i, 42. f Luke v, 12-15 : Mark i, 40-45. 



At Capernaum and through Galilee. 163 

this late wonderful scene : for, above all other inter- 
ests, above the wonder of the cure itself, come before 
us the majesty of Christ himself, and the calm dignity 
of his words, I will, uttered in that quietude of con- 
scious power which could have been only in one to 
whom infinite power had been forever familiar and 
who felt its existence in himself. We see this also in 
all his other miracles ; and it is even more remarka- 
ble than the miracles themselves ; — a quietude in the 
perfect consciousness of power ; a simplicity of om- 
nipotence, which reminds us of the command re- 
corded in the Bible, " Let there be UgJit : and there 
was light." 

There was, soon afterwards, another scene where 
the Divinity within Christ asserted its rights and 
its powers, in a yet more striking degree. After the 
healing of the leper, he had spent some days in still 
further teachings and miraculous cures, through the 
country ; and then had returned to Capernaum ; 
where, the rumor of his presence being quickly 
spread, crowds began to gather about him as before. 

The large houses in those countries are built around 
a court-yard, which can be shaded by an awning 
drawn over it when necessary ; or the court has some- 
times a partial covering made by trellis work or 
loose planks, perhaps forming supports to vines. An 
arched passage from the street, and a gate-way in 
this passage, admit into the court ; and, from the 
latter, access is had to the various parts of the house. 
In such a court-yard, at Capernaum, the Messiah was, 
one day, teaching, after his return ; and around him. 
in addition to the usual crowds, were Pharisees and 
Doctors of the law, " which had come out of every 



164 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem." They 
had been roused to a critical attention by the in- 
creased fame of Christ, and were here to scrutinize. 
Dense masses of people filled all the court and the 
arched way, out into the street ; and the scene was a 
very remarkable one. The speaker had just come from 
a wonderful exercise of miraculous power throughout 
Galilee : and here, also, as usual in his addresses, 
there seemed to be that about him personally — his 
manner, his Presence, his words — which was more 
than human.* Among this audience now, " the power 
of the Lord was present to heal them."t Where 
should they place this teacher, — in what condition of 
the natural or the supernatural ? was a question 
greatly agitating the public mind. Therefore, as he 
spoke on this occasion, all eyes were fixed on him in 
deepest attention, and yet variously ; the multitude 
gazing with reverence mixed w-ith awe ; the Phari- 
sees and Scribes, with their old captious feeling, and 
with jealousies towards one who had not studied in 
their schools, and had shown no marked respect for 
them or their pretensions ; who also, with no advan- 
tages of scholastic training, had shown himself so su- 
perior to them all. They watched critically to see 
what opinion they were to form of an individual now 
so largely occupying attention. — But a sudden inter- 
ruption occurred, — a singular event, which soon, how- 
ever, added to the deep interest of the scene. 

Out in the street, four men had come, bearing, on a 
couch, a paralytic, who was unable to help himself. 
A new hope had seized him and them, when they 

*» See the testimony of his enemies — " Never man spake like this 
man." 

f Luke v, 17. 



At Capernaum and through Galilee. 165 

heard that Christ had returned to Capernaum ; and, 
with the quick tenderness of friendship, they had 
been hurrying the sick man towards . the Messiah, 
when presently they were brought to a stand by the 
crowd filling every spot about the door. It was 
found impossible to proceed, for the archway was 
packed closely, by human beings, trying to catch the 
words of the Great Teacher within ; and the people 
either could not or would not give way. A fear 
came over the sick man, such a fear as can be known 
only to one long diseased and helpless, but who is sud- 
denly roused by a great hope, and now that hope 
made seemingly vain. He turned his feeble gaze on 
the multitude, full of entreaty ; but they did not 
move : exhortations from friends were of no avail : 
probably every one believed that an effort to get 
through such a crowd must be vain. But the friends 
were not to be baffled by difficulties ; and they found 
some outside way by which the sick man was brought 
safely to the flat roof of the house, whence they 
looked down upon the scene in the court below. 
Some of the loose covering over the spot where the 
speaker was standing was removed ; and, by means 
of cords, the couch and the invalid were lowered 
down* to the feet of the Messiah. No one ever 

* Mark says, " uncovered the roof where he was ; Luke, " they 
let him down through the tiling with his couch," 8lo\ tZjv xspafiav 
which here, in our Bible is translated through the tiling. In Acts 
is, 25, however, Stais* translated by, not through, 6 cd <rS tec^qikj, 
by the wall. Also in 2 Cor. xi, 33, Sod by the wall. The Greek 
word xipa/Aoc, originally meant tiles ; but afterwards it was used 
for any kind of roof or covering. The .passage here, undoubtedly, 
means by the roof or edge of the roof. 



166 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

sought his help in vain ; and, especially, no one with 
such a look of entreaty and faith as now, from that 
couch, met the attention of Christ*. From the house- 
top, from the crowds, and the Pharisees and Scribes, 
from every side, there was a gaze of intensest inte- 
rest. 

" Son," said the Messiah, f thy sins are forgiven 
tftee." 

Among the hearers there was a start of wonder : 
- — among some of them, also, of horror and amaze- 
ment. 

" Who is this that speaketh blasphemies ? Who 
can forgive sins save God alone," — the leaders were 
Baying in themselves. 

The Messiah knew their secret reasoning, and re- 
plied to it, but without one word towards denying 
the justness of their conclusions. On the contrary, 
he gave his sanction to their logic, and put forth, 
clearly and fully, his claims to Divinity. — 

" What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier 
to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say, Rise up 
and walk ? But that ye may know that the Son of man 
hath power upon earth to forgive sins (he said to the 
sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise and take up 
thy couch, and go unto thine house."' 

The paralytic man — paralytic no more — rose up. 
What a strange sensation there was to him in that 
new strength ! How his heart bounded in him, as he 
felt the power to move his limbs and to stand ; as he 
felt health once more nerving all his muscles, glowing 
in all his frame! Amazement held the spectators 
dumb for a while, overwhelmed by the Messiah's 
high claims to the Godhead : their feelings, at first 



At Capernaum and through Galilee. 167 

astonishment, and a shrinking at the seeming blas- 
phemy in his language, and then amazement, not only 
at the deliberate re-assertion of his claims, but the 
sanction to them by Heaven itself. They were filled 
with awe at the idea of the possibility of such a Pre- 
sence with them, and fears were mingled with their 
words giving glory to God.- Well might they say, 
as they did, while retiring to their homes, " We have 
seen strange things to-day." The healed man also 
joined in glorifying God. 

But discussions respecting the events of the day 
were continued, with deep earnestness, long after- 
wards, at their homes. The Pharisees and Scribes, es- 
pecially, were thoroughly perplexed. There was 
such a strange power in that teaching ; there was 
such a greatness in the speaker, uttering his doctrines 
with authority, and these doctrines so clear and prac- 
tical, and carrying to the heart conviction of their 
truth. All about him had the marks of humility 
in life ; yet real greatness can afford to be volun- 
tarily humble ; and there was even a grandeur in 
this retiracy and unpretendingness of Christ, mixed, 
as they were, with a latent power to which there 
seemed to be no bounds. With this humiliation in 
his appearance, he was claiming the attributes of 
God ! It was blasphemy in man : — was he man ? 
Yes, for their own eyes satisfied them of that ; and 
yet, in his words, his doctrines, his face, there shone 
out what might well be Divinity enthroned for a while 
on earth. What a Divinity, too, in his manner of ad- 
dress to the sick man y — his word, simply, to .be 

* Luke v, 26. 



1G8 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

healed, and lie was healed : — as in the old manner, 
when God spake and it was done. 

— And yet, if he were the Christ, the Messiah, God 
with men, — so unpretending and unambitious, so hum- 
ble in all his surroundings and contented with them, 
what was to become of their nation's hope of domin- 
ion and glory ? Judea was still to remain trampled 
under foot ; its expected triumphs a dream. Why 
should he appear also as he did ? Why in the form 
Their eyes beheld ? W hy not, at least, in some pomp 
and circumstance of honor ? 

■ — Thus, in doubts and queryings, and in feeding 
the heart with worldly passions, these Pharisees and 
Scribes wandered off from the truth. How many 
other men have, since that time, done the same! 



CHAPTER XVI. 

AT JERUSALEM: ALSO AT CAPERNAUM. 

The Messiah had given recently another proof of 
his preference of what was- right above what was 
popular, by calling Matthew, a publican, from the very 
receipt of customs, to be a disciple. Accompanied by 
him, and by the others so far selected to this office, he 
went now to the Passover at Jerusalem, disregardful 
of what the Rabbis and Doctors would say of his re- 
tinue, taken from a class despised by their learned 
men, and called by them, " earth," and " worms," fit 
only to be trod upon. 



At Jerusalem: also at Capernaum. 169 

Indeed, the whole party from Galilee were suffi- 
ciently humble in their dress, and were unpretentious 
in manner ; yet one of them was Lord, not of Judea 
only, but of the earth ; and two of his followers have 
left writings the value of which it will require the ful- 
ness of eternity to show. Souls in this world, and 
in the next, will not cease to bless the records of 
Matthew and John.. 

There was a pool at Jerusalem, called Bethesda, 
having five porches or colonnades attached to it, under 
the shelter of which were a great number of men, 
" blind, and halt, and withered,' 7 waiting for the " mov- 
ing of the water " in the pool. " For an angel went 
down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled 
the water : whosoever, then, first after the troubling 
of the water, stepped in was made whole.' 7 A very 
singular fountain, with a similar periodicity of flow, 
which the writer of this book has himself seen, still 
exists at Jerusalem. A few days after the author's ar- 
rival in that city, (in 1834,) he was, one clay, going 
alone on the outskirts during the sickness of his friend 
and guide ; and on the side of the valley of Jehosha- 
phat, not far below the old temple walls, he noticed 
an opening in the hill-side with steps leading down. 
He descended some distance — 27 steps cut in the rock ; 
■ — and at last, in the dim light, was just about stepping 
into a pool of water, when a timely discovery saved 
him from the partial bath. The fountain was about 
18 inches deep, and a few feet across, the water per- 
fectly clear, but with a slightly foreign taste. Returning 
there, a few days after this, he was astonished to find, 
instead of the clear fountain, only a muddy puddle, 
with but a quart or two of water left. Others have 



170 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

noticed the same periodicity in this fountain* — called 
the Fountain of the Virgin. A subterranean channel 
leading from it has, since that time, been explored and 
found to conduct to the pool of Siloam : and this " Foun- 
tain of the Virgin " is itself, doubtless, supplied by 
artificial conduits, from sources under the temple site, 
or perhaps from Acra. Its periodicity, though, of 
course, natural, has never been explained. 

The Messiah, on this occasion of his visiting the 
pool of Bethesda, stopped near a man— a cripple for 
38 years, — lying there with longings to feel the power 
of the water ; often taunted with a sudden hope ; 
then springing up with painful effort, as the water was 
troubled, but only to be disappointed by seeing others 
more active than himself step in and be healed. 

" Wilt thou be made whole ?" — the words were ad- 
dressed to him. 

" Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to 
put me into the pool : but while I am coming another 
steppeth down before me." 

" Rise, take up thy bed and walk.' 7 

There was power as well as authority, in that voice. 
A movement ! strength ! the man was on his feet, 
whole and sound and strong ! He did not know the 
Healer, who, inasmuch as many were assembling, had 
withdrawn : but he did as directed, took his bit of 
mat or couch, and started for his home. 

But it was the Sabbath : and the Jewish leaders 
meeting him, reproved him for the breach of its sanc- 
tity by carrying a burthen on that day. He told them 
of the directions given him ; and, afterwards having 

"Sec Robinson's Researches, and also Thompson's "Lund and 
the Book." 



At Jerusalem : also at Capernaum. 171 

met the Messiah, and discovered who it was that -had 
healed him, he informed them that it " was Jesus who 
had made him whole." 

Christ was now in a city where, whatever was fierce 
in bigotry, lofty in religious assumption, or deadly in 
malice when such prejudices were wounded, had their 
climax ; and the part of a teacher is not only to ex- 
hibit truths, but to expose their opposites for condem- 
nation. In Jerusalem he must, therefore, soon come 
into collision with the rulers, from whom, when once 
their ire had been aroused, only the fiercest measures 
of revenge might be expected, so far as the Roman 
power would permit. Of the Messiah's opinion of 
these men, " hypocrites," ." serpents," " generation of vi- 
pers," we have a record further on in history ; and 
from the first he knew them thoroughly in all the base- 
ness of their nature and of their designs. Nor did lie, 
among them, ever cease to place the full power, both of 
his teachings and his example, on the side of truth. 
We are too apt, in our considerations of the gentleness 
the mildness, the benevolence and the unconquerable 
love of Christ, in this his ministry, to lose sight of the 
moral force there was in him, and which it was that led 
to the plots against his life ; and, as far as these rulers 
were concerned, brought him finally to suffer on the 
cross. This force made no parade of itself, and was 
seldom a prominent object in his character, often seem- 
ingly latent, but it was ceaseless in operation and ever 
felt : and where there was a necessity, then it came 
out fully and openly and decidedly, as we see in his 
cleansing the temple, and in the woes hurled there af- 
terwards, on the Pharisees, and, indeed, through all 
his ministry on earth. His religion was to be, forever, 



172 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

aggressive against all wickedness ; and he was himself 
aggressive : but we now recognize, even in this, such a 
greatness of love that it hides all else from our eyes ; 
and so, to many persons in our day, Christ appears to 
have been tame and passive, when the fact is that the 
really grand aggressive force in him is veiled from us 
by his more striking traits of benevolence and love. 
Even in the scene which comes immediately after this, 
in Galilee, his anger* was deeply blended with grief 
at man's hardness of heart. 

When the healed man from the pool of Bethesda in- 
formed the rulers who it was that had directed him to 
carry his bed on the Sabbath, they immediately came 
to the Messiah with a murderous purpose in their 
hearts. He had before been obnoxious : they now be- 
gan their plots for nis life. — His very first words to 
them were an assertion of the right, through the God- 
head in him, to act as he had done. 

" My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." 

They understood him perfectly, and they " sought 
the more to kill him, because he not only had 
broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his 
Father, making himself equal with God."f 

But there was no retraction on his part ; only re- 
assertion in a more positive form. * * "For as the 
Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; 
even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the 
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judg- 
meet unto the Son : that all men should, honor the 
Son, even as they honor the Father." The address 
was continued in the same clear and decided lan- 
guage, with declarations of the power in heaven be- 
e Mark iii, 5. f John v, 18. 



At Jerusalem: also at Capernaum. 173 

longing to him, and of his supremacy in the judgment 
to come.* 

While returning from Jerusalem to Galilee, as he 
was passing on the Sabbath through a field of grain, 
his disciples plucked some of the ears for satisfying 
their hunger ; and when the Pharisees in company 
drew his attention reproachingly to the fact, he de- 
fended his followers, declaring, also, " The Son of 
man is Lord even of the Sabbath day."t 

They had begun now to watch him, in order to find 
occasions for accusation, and he met their scrutiny 
readily ; for it would give him only the better oppor- 
tunity for impressing his doctrines. An opportunity 
for this offered itself soon after his return to Galilee. 

He had gone to the synagogue on the Sabbath and 
had taught as usual, after which he noticed in the 
congregation a man having a withered hand. Scribes 
and Pharisees were attentively observing both him 
and this individual, to see whether thev mio;ht not 
find there another charge against him of violating the 
Sabbath. He knew it. 

" Rise, and stand forth in the midst," he said to 
the man ; and he did so. — Turning to the Scribes and 
Pharisees, who were then plotting for his life, he 
said : " "I will ask you one thing ; Is it lawful on the 
Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil ? to save life, 
or to destroy it?" 

They did not answer ; and he " looked round 
about on them with anger, being" grieved at the 
hardness of their hearts ;" then towards the man. — 
" Stretch forth thy hand." He did so : it was 
whole as the other. 

* See John v, 19-47. f Matt, xii, 8. 



17-1 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

Those men who were plotting murder there in 
their hearts on the Sabbath, and yet would not sanc- 
tion an act of mercy on that day, lest its sacredness 
should be violated, now went out, and immediately, 
for their fell purposes, formed a combination of a 
very singular kind with another Jewish sect. These 
were the Herodians, a set of men who, it will be re- 
membered, had become the advocates, first of Herod 
the Great, and were such now of his sons, Herod An- 
tipas, king of Galilee and Perea, and of Philip of 
Gaulonitis ; maintaining that the Roman government 
was just, and that it was the duty of the Jews to sub- 
mit ; also that, in the present circumstances, they 
might follow, with a good conscience, many, of the 
heathen practices and modes. Nothing could be 
more at variance with the Pharisaic doctrines of a 
strict adherence to their law, and of their proclaimed 
maxim, that God only was their king, and that it was 
wrong, to submit to any other : yet these Pharisees 
now went out from the synagogue, '■ and straightway 
took counsel with the Herodians against Jesus, how 
they might destroy him."* The Herodians might 
easily be persuaded that the Messiah was setting up 
a kingdom in opposition to that of their Master, 
Herod Antipas ; or, at all events, that dangerous tu- 
mults against the government might arise among a 
people at this moment so excited about a promised, 
mighty King. The two sects, Pharisee and Hero- 
dian, joined here in compact, their antagonistic prin- 
ciples made to act in concert, through their greater 
enmity towards Christ. 

With what feelings, then, of rage and jealousy 

O Mark iii, G. 



At Jerusalem : also at Capernaum. 175 

must they have looked on the events which imme- 
diately ensued at Capernaum ; — throngs brought by 
his fame from all parts of Palestine, and from beyond 
its limits ; — people crowding around him ; the sick, 
in the multitude of applications, endeavoring if only 
to touch him, in order to be healed ; and demoniacs 
falling down before him, crying out, "Thou art the 
Son of God." We are puzzled here again, as we 
often are in reading the Gospels, by the notice of 
what is unknown in our own time and seems to have 
been peculiar to the period of which we are writing, 
that is, men possessed of spirits of various kinds. In 
our entire' ignorance as to the extreme thinness of the 
veil which separates the visible from the invisible 
world, and how easily it may be pierced by superna- 
tural force when occasion requires, while to us it is 
so impervious, we can only content ourselves with 
the query, suggested in a former part of this work, 
that if the powers of heaven are to be shaken when 
the Son of man comes to the judgment, how much 
more must they have been shaken during that won- 
derful period when he laid aside his glory which he 
had with the Father, and was a sojourner on our 
earth? But these are facts about which we are little 
capable of reasoning, as, indeed, we must be, whenever 
we try to peer into the supernatural, and to query 
about the mighty, unknown wonders it contains. 

The scene at Capernaum had become an exciting- 
one. People had come from Tyre and Sidon on the 
north, and even from Idumea and its capital, Petra, 
on the south ; from the east of the Jordan, and from 
Jerusalem, and all parts of Judea ;* and a vast mul- 

* Mark iii, 8. 



176 Life scenes from the Four Gospels. 

titude were congregated, brought together by the 
fame of the Messiah's teachings and his deeds. 
Through these crowds the friends of the sick men 
were still hurrying them ; and people's sympathies 
were, es'ery moment, excited by such sights ; — by the 
wan and feeble, and the distorted by disease ; by 
eyes raised imploringly from couches ; or by faint 
voices entreating them to give way, that the Great 
Healer might be reached in time ; by the halt and 
lame, trying to force an approach ; and by the blind, 
asking to be directed amid the dense masses : while, 
here and there, over the various noises, rose the ac- 
knowledging cry of the demoniacs : " Thou art the 
Son of God. ,; The scene, indeed, might easily become 
tumultuous, especially through the instigation of ene- 
mies ; and the Messiah at last withdrew to the bor- 
ders of the lake, where a small boat had been brought ; 
from this, also, his teachings could be more readily 
heard than amid the dense throngs pressing on him 
from every side.* 



CHAPTER XVII. 

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

After the scenes in our last chapter, the Messiah 
sought, in the evening, somewhere back of Capernaum, 
a retired spot for prayer ; and there he remained all 
tbe night in communion with Heaven. He needed 

° See Mark iii, 7-12 ; Matt, xii, 15-21. 



Sermon on the Mount. 177 

rest after such a day as we have just been describing ; 
but he felt still more the need of the refreshment 
which such communion only could afford. 

Earth must have been to him lonely. Even his 
friends had few ideas common with himself ; and, 
with all his teachings, quite to the last of his minis- 
try, Ms immediate followers themselves did not un- 
derstand the kingdom which he was endeavoring to 
establish. Where, indeed, could he find any one to 
join with him in that vastness of love which was for 
all mankind, or to comprehend its nature ? His 
views of things were infinitely wider than those of 
the men around him, or of any man : his knowledge 
embraced both worlds, the seen and the unseen : he 
was infinitely above all others : and thus to him 
there must have been a solitude on the earth, into 
which no one could come, bringing that companion- 
ship which even the highest natures long for, that 
full communion which makes the greatest happiness 
of our being. He had such fellowship with others as 
could be found in relieving their distress, in elevating 
them towards heaven by his teachings, and in ever 
doing them good by the mightiness of power at his 
command ; but companionship there was none, and 
there could be none, upon the earth. 

His full communion' could be only with heaven ; and 
in such nights as this, when retiring from all human 
beings, he put himself away from earthly things, then 
was his solitude broken ; for the companionship of 
heaven came fully to him again. 

Thus he spent the night, and until the morning 
waked up the world to activity once more, and his 
work of teaching and healing was to be resumed. 



178 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

* 

That day's teaching is among the~most memorable 
things of earth ; for it gave us the Sermon on the 
Mount. 

The narrow thoroughfares at Capernaum were ill 
adapted to be a place for teaching, and no house 
could contain the multitudes thronging about him ; 
and, recently, he had been compelled to take a boat, 
from which, as it laid by the shore, he could address 
them : now he led the way, back of the city, to the 
heights of the table-land, which, as already men- 
tioned, here overlooks the lake. Seen from below, 
the shore there has a mountainous aspect, rising to 
the height of eight or nine hundred feet, although 
when examined from above, the ground shows itself to 
be only the termination of the great Esdraelon plain. 
These heights are, however, themselves not uniform, 
but are broken into irregularities of outline, and, es- 
pecially at one place, where a part called " The 
Horns of Hattin" shows, as seen from the lake, an 
altitude of some hundreds of feet above the rest. 
These Horns of Hattin form a short ridge, running 
east and west, with a depression in its middle, and 
are, especially the eastern end, pointed out by tradi- 
tion as the scene of the interesting gathering on that 
day. " The summit of the eastern horn," says Rob- 
inson, "is a little circular plain ; and the top of the 
lower ridge, between the two, is also flattened to a 
plain. * * This point commands a near view of 
the great plain over which we had passed north of 
Tabor, and also of the basin Ard-el-Hamma [closely 
adjoining Hattin] spread out before us with fields of 
various views, like a carpet. On the other side, the 
eye takes in, even hero, only the northern part of the 



Sermon on the Mount. 179 

Lake of Tiberias, and on its western shore the little 
plain of Gennesaret ; while on the north and north- 
west, Safed, and a few other villages, are seen upon 
the hills." 

It is quite probable that the tradition which as- 
signs this place as the scene of the Sermon on the 
Mount is correct ;* and the objects immediately 
around would readily furnish the illustrations in that 
discourse. # A gorge-like valley, leading out from 
Gennesaret, is called, at the present time, the " Yale 
of Doves/ 7 from the numbers of " fowls of the air" 
having their homes among the cavernous rocks ; high 
up in its sides : the time was spring, just after the 
Passover, and Palestine is remarkable for its profusion 
of brilliant flowers at that season ; while the peak of 
Safed (if then built upon.) cr the town on Tabor, 
would suggest the allusion to a " city set upon a 
hill." 

The place was, indeed, fitted well to be the scene 
of that sermon : — the open vault of sky above ; the 
lofty elevation, where the morning air was wafting the 
incense of flowers towards heaven ; the wide prospect : 
— nature all around in its purity and grandeur seem- 
ing ready to say Amen to the pure and great word of 
Nature's God uttered there to men for man's imperish- 
able soul. We cannot but contrast the scene of that 
morning with the one at Sinai, — its barren crags, 
and thunder and lightning, making people stand afar 
off in fear ; and remark how characteristic the two 
scenes were of the two dispensations to which they 
belonged. 

* Here also was fought the bloody 5 decisive battle between tho 
Crusaders and the Turks. 



180 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

The disciples of Christ had become numerous ; and 
he had now, out of them, selected twelve whom he 
named Apostles* that is, "persons to be sent forth, " 
who were to be more especial attendants on his acts 
and teachings, and witnesses for him before the world. 

They accompanied him in this ascent of the moun- 
tain back of Capernaum ; as did also many from 
the city, and regions adjoining. t When, on reaching 
the summit he sat down, — the position for teaching, — 
the multitudes gathered closely around, and their 
curiosity was intensified. The circumstances seemed 
to show that the teaching would be of a more import- 
ant character than usual. What would it be ? We 
can see them closing together, so as not to lose a 
word of what might be uttered ; their eager faces, 
their silence of attention and their listening attitudes, 
giving evidence of the deep interest which they felt. 
Were angels also listening ? We believe they were : 
and generations, since that, of the tempted, and tried, 
and weary, and sad, and of the longing on earth for 
heaven, and of the seekers for comfort here, and for 
light in darkness, and for a sure foundation for faith, 
and for comfort and peace, have gone to those words, 
and have found them just what their souls needed 
most. Yet there is no eloquence in them ; no over- 
whelming grandeur of thought or sentiment : on the 
contrary, the language is very plain, and the thoughts 
and sentiments are marked with great simplicity : 
but we feel, while reading, that the soul's God and 
Maker is speaking to the soul, — speaking to it in 
kindness and love. The scene was a great one, 
where those words, ever since that time so productive 

° Luke vi, 13. t Inferred from Matt, vii, 28. 



Sermon on the Mount. 181 

of blessings to men, were uttered. In our thoughts 
we glance over those intensely interested multitudes, 
to fix our eyes where theirs were fixed ; — on the cen- 
tral object of that assembly ; on those features of 
God-like expression, those eyes lighted up by unut- 
terable love, on the lineaments where the Divinity 
enthroned was taking form to the human eye. In all 
that grand scene of nature, we see him only who was 
worthy to be highest over nature and in heaven ; and 
we hear him speaking worthily, even for him : — for 
they are the words of eternal life. 

When the occasion was over, and the people were 
returning down the mountain towards their homes, 
they went thoughtfully, not yet recovered from the as_ 
tonishment which had settled upon them, while ob- 
serving his doctrines and his manner : for they 
all felt that '' he had taught them as one having au- 
thority, and not as the Scribes."* 

We can see the better how well they might be sur- 
prised when we come to read of the usual instructions 
in their synagogues, and to observe the frivolous sub- 
jects often of the teachings there. In order that the 
reader may himself form some idea of these, we here 
give quotations from Eabbinical writings adduced 
by Lightfoot : for " although the works to which he 
refers were written subsequently to the birth of 
Christ, yet they are generally considered as correct 
representations of. the moral and religious opinions 
which the Rabbis inculcated and which the Jewish 
people imbibed and observed in the days of our Sa- 
viour's ministry. "t 

« Matt, vii, 29. 

•f Preface to Lightfoot's works, by J. R. Pitman, A. M. 



182 LlFE-SCBNEH FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

Wc present some extracts made by that scholar, 
led under different heads. 

'• Absurd legends and stories. — ' R. Judah .sat look- 
ing in the law before the Babylonish synagogue in 
Zippor : there was a bullock passed by him to the 
slaughter, and it lowed. Because he did not deliver 
that bullock from the slaughter, he was struck with 
the tooth-ache for the space of 13 years.'* Adam, 
when first formed, reached from earth to heaven, 
and had a tail like an orang-outang. Og, of Basan, 
walked during the deluge by the side of the ark, and 
sometimes rode astride on it : from one of Iris teeth 
Abram made a bedstead. The wings of the bird Bar 
Juchne, when extended, causes an eclipse of the sun : 
one of her eggs, which fell from her nest, broke down 
300 cedars and inundated 60 villages. &c, £c. 

" Opinions relative to the Sabbath. — ' It is not only per- 
mitted to lead a beast out to watering on the Sabbath 
day : but they might draw water for him and pour it 
into the trouglis, provided only they do not carry the 
water and set it before the beast to drink, but the beast 
comes and drink? it of his own accord." ' Women 
may not look into a looking-glass on the Sabbath 
day. if it be fixed to a wall.' ' He that hath tooth- 
ache, let him not swallow vinegar to spit it out again : 
but he may swallow it. so he swallow it down. He 
that hath a sore throat, let him not gargle it with oil : 
but he may swallow down the oil, whence if he receive 
a cure, it is well. Let no man chew mastich or rub 
his teeth with spice for a cure : but if he do this to 
make his mouth sweet, it is allowed.' 

" Superstition with regard to amulets, charms, magic, 
4*c. — The senior who is chosen into the council ought 



Sermon on the Mount. 183 

to be skilled in the arts of astrologers, jugglers, divin- 
ers, sorcerers, &c, that he may be able to judge of 
those who are guilty of the same/ ' The chamber Hap- 
parva, in the temple itself, was built by a certain ma- 
gician, whose name was Parvah, by art magic' ' Four 
and twenty of the school Rabbi, intercalating the year 
at Lydda, were killed by the evil-eye/ i. e., sorceries. 
The Talmud, after cautioning its votaries against 
drinking water by night, lest it should cause dizziness 
and blindness, instructs them, if they so drink, to guard 
against these maladies by repeating Shivriri, Vriri, Riri, 
Iri, Ri. l When a child laughs in its sleep in the 
night of a Sabbath, or a new moon, the demon Lilith 
is toying with it : then let the parents thrice exclaim, 
Begone cursed Lilith, and at each exclamation pat the 
nose of the child.' 

" Hypocrisy in prayer. — ' R. Joachin said, I saw R. 
Jaimai standing and praying in the streets of Zippor ; 
and going four cubits, and then praying the additional 
prayer.' 

" Puerile and ridiculous descriptions. — They detail the 
number of angels and demons, their mode of birth, pre- 
cise names, magnitude and stature, residences and pecu- 
liar offices. Equally childish are the reveries of the 
Rabbis, relative to the chorography of Paradise, its va- 
rious divisions and names thereof. With the same ac- 
curacy they mark out the different compartments of Hell 
or Gehinnon ; the extent and inmates of each section, 
the various intensities of penal fire and the processes 
of purgation. 

" Drunkenness as a matter of religion. — ' Rabba 
saith, A man is bound to make himself so mellow on 
the feast of Purim that he shall not be able to distin- 



181 , Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

guisli between cursed be Haman and blessed be Mor- 
decai.' 

" Absurd calculations. — ' The ladder of Jacob is the 
ascent of the altar and the altar itself. The angels 
are princes or monarchs. The king of Babylon as- 
cended 70 steps : the king of the Medes, 52 ; the king 
of Greece, 180 : the king of Edom — it is uncertain 
how many.' They reckon the breadth of the ladder to 
have been about 8,000 parasangs, i. e., about 32,000 
miles, and the bulk of each angel was about 8,000 Eng- 
lish miles in compass. 

" Punctilious ivashing of hands. — The Rabbins de- 
livered, ' The washing of hands for common things 
(or common food) was unto the joining of the arm.' 
1 The second waters cleanse whatsoever parts of the 
hands the first waters had washed. But if the first 
waters had gone above the juncture of the arm, the 
second waters do not cleanse, because they do not 
cleanse above the juncture. If, therefore, the waters 
which went not above the juncture return upon the 
hands again, they are unclean.' There are a great 
many injunctions on this subject. 

" National vanity. — ' If one sees one of the Gentiles 
fall into the sea, he shall not fetch him up ; for it is 
said, Thou shalt not stand up against the blood of thy 
neighbor. But such an one is not thy neighbor.' 
' The nations of the world are likened to dogs.' 
4 An Israelite that slayeth a stranger sojourning 
among them is not to be put to death by the Sanhe- 
drim for it ; because it is said, If a man come pre- 
sumptuously upon his neighbor.' 'If any one's ox 
shall gore his neighbor's ox ; his neighbor's not a 
heathen's ; when he saith neighbor's^ he excludes 



Sermon on the Mount. 185 

heathen's/ ' The dust of Syria defiles, as well as the 
dust of other heathen countries.' • Wicked hea- 
then's little ones, all men confess they shall not come 
into the world to come.' ' Whosoever lives within the 
land of Israel is absolved from all iniquities. And 
whosoever is buried within the land of Israel is as if 
he were buried under the altar.' 'The men of Israel 
are wise, for the very climate makes wise.' 

li Subtle distinctions. — Any spittle found in the 
city was clean, except that which was found in the 
upper streets. The hinges of the gates of the tem- 
ple were heard as far as a Sabbath-day's journey 
eight times numbered. The hinges, indeed, not far- 
ther, but the gates themselves were heard to Jericho. 
There is a dispute upon that precept, Levit. xvii, 3 : 
If any one kill a bird upon a holy-day, the Shammean 
school saith, ' Let him dig with an instrument and 
cover the blood.' The school of Hillel saith, ' Let 
him not kill at all, if he have not dust ready by him 
to cover the blood.' 

" Intricate questions. — Whether a man may bless 
God for the sweet smell of incense which he smells 
offered to idols ? Whether a man at his devotions, if 
a serpent come and bite him in the heel, may turn 
and stoop and shake it off or not ? 

" Logical' deductions. — The Jews do gather 613 pre- 
cepts, negative and affirmative, to be in the whole law, 
according to the 613 letters in the two tables, and so 
many veins and members in a man's body. ' While 
lie asketh necessaries for himself, let him not use any 
language, but the Syriac ; because the angels do not 
understand the Syriac language.' " 

More in the same style might be adduced ; but 



1S6 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

these are sufficient to show the reader what was pro- 
bably the nature of the discussions among the Rab- 
bis, and the subject of their teachings at that period : 
we may also here refer back to the celebrated sayings 
of Hillel and Shammai, the two great Jewish leaders 
just before our Saviour's time, from a Jewish history, 
as quoted at pages 98 and 99 in this book. 

Immediately on returning from the mountain to 
Capernaum, the Messiah was called upon again to ex- 
ercise his power of miraculous healing : the request 
brought, this time, by the elders of the city. Jewish 
elders were the princes of tribes and heads of family 
associations. It was seldom that the Jewish rulers 
showed him any honors ; for there seems to have 
been small affinity between him and them ; and they 
now came by entreaty of a Roman centurion, who, 
instead of bearing himself haughtily among them, 
they said, " loved their nation, and had built them 
a synagogue." His servant was sick of palsy, and 
apparently in those frightful spasms when paralysis 
is verging on apoplexy, and was " grievously tor- 
mented." The centurion, fearing, perhaps, i hat his 
being a foreigner might stay the benevolent hand 
of Christ, asked the elders to solicit him to come 
and heal ; but modesty overwhelmed him even in 
this solicitude ; for while the Messiah, accompa- 
nied by the rulers, was on the way to his house, 
friends of the officer were sent, saying, that their mas- 
ter did not deem himself worthy to receive such a 
visitor : "But speak only the word, and my servant 
shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, 
having soldiers under me : and I say to this man, Go, 
aud he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he cometh ; 



Nain. Castle of Macherus. 187 

and to my servant, Do tins, and he doetli it." The 
Messiah turned to the elders with an expression of 
admiration at the man's strong faith, and added, that 
many such, of other nations, should enter the king- 
dom of heaven, while unbelieving Jews should be 
cast out into outer darkness : " there shall be weep- 
ing and gnashing of teeth." They went no further : 
and the centurion's friends, returning immediately, 
found the servant well.* 



* CHAPTER XVIII. 

NAIN. — CASTLE OF MACHERUS. « 

The writer of this, while looking out, one day, from 
an upper window of his lodgings in Pera, a suburb of 
Constantinople, on the opposite side of " The Golden 
Horn/ 7 saw just below him, a procession advancing 
rapidly up the street. It was headed by persons car- 
rying on their shoulders a species of bier or couch, on 
which was the dead body of a young girl, — one who 
might have been 16 or IT years of age. There was 
no coffin, simply the open couch ; and the deceased 
lay there dressed in white garments, such as N she had 
worn while living, the face uncovered, flowers scat- 
tered about the head and the dress and bier ; all re- 
minding one but little of death • for the features were 
like those of a person in a quiet sleep. 

© Matthew viii, 5-13 ; Luke vii, 1-10. Matthew speaks of the 
centurion as having come himself ; on the law-maxim qui facitper 
aliumfacit per se. 



188 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

But still there was unmistakably, there, the majesty 
of death ; — that majesty which every one recognizes, 
and before which we are always filled with awe. 

I have seen that majesty most strangely impressive 
also on the battle-field ; where the dead were lying 
thickly, and where the hands of victorious enemies 
were giving them a hasty and unhonored burial : but, 
still, that silent impressiveness was there, even in those 
discolored corpses lying, as they had fallen in the mad- 
dening strife ; and people spoke in tones of gentleness, 
although these dead men had fallen while acting as 
our bitterest foes. 

We como now to speak of a scene in Galilee con- 
nected with death. 

The reader will remember that, parallel to Carmel, 
the southwestern boundary of Esdraelon, and near 
to it, is the short range of Mount Gilboa : and then 
parallel to it, a little further. to the north, another 
similar range, called Little Hermon. From the 
northeastern side of this last, a short spur of table 
land projects, on which was a small city, called Xain, 
overlooking the plain below, with Endor not far off, 
and Mount Tabor about five miles to the north. The 
time of this scene was near the close of day. Scarcely 
a finer spot could have been chosen for seeing the 
quiet of evening fall over the great landscape of Es- 
draelon, than was this plateau of Nain, from which 
objects below were all distinct, — the numerous vil- 
lages, the orchards, the signs of busy husbandry, and 
the fields of waving grain ; for the time we speak of 
was at the harvest season over that immense plain. 
But as, in our history, we may consider ourselves by 
Nain, looking down over the interesting scene, we 



Nain. — Castle of Macherus. 189 

hear the quiet of the evening suddenly broken in 
upon by loud wailings from a procession, issuing from 
one of the city gates, — a funeral procession with all 
the demonstrations belonging to such an occasion in 
the East. 

" The grief of the orientals formerly on the occasion 
of death, was, as it is at this day in the East, very ex- 
treme. As soon as a person died, the females in the 
family, with a loud voice, set up a sorrowful cry. They 
continued it as long as they could without taking 
breath, and the first shriek of wailing died away in a 
low sob. After a time they repeated the same cry 
and continued it for eight days. 

" A box or coffin was not used, except in Babylon 
and Egypt. The corpse was wrapped in folds of linen 
and placed upon a bier, and was carried by four or six 
persons to the tomb. * * The mourners who fol- 
lowed the bier, poured forth the anguish of the heart 
in lamentable wails ; and, what rendered the cere- 
mony still more affecting, there were eulogists and 
musicians who deepened the sympathetic feelings of 
the occasion by a rehearsal of the virtues of the de- 
departed and by accompaniment of melancholy 
sounds."* 

The greatness of the concoursef attending this fu- 
neral at Nain, showed the respect entertained for the 
afflicted family, and how wide was the sympathy felt in 
this particular case. The deceased had been an only 
son ; his mother was a widow ; and the mourning 
here, had the depth that can come only from such 
utter desolation as was hers. The Jewish dead were 

<* Jahn's Archaeology. See also Matt, ix, 23, and xi, 17. 
f Luke vii, 12. 



190 Life scenes from the Four Gospels. 

always buried outside their towns : and the proces- 
sion had now left the city gate, — a long line of 
mourners filling the evening air with their lamenta- 
tions and cries. The corpse was borne on a couch, 
with the face uncovered, as was the custom in that 
country : — those calm, placid features, and that depth 
of appalling repose in the corpse, contrasting strongly 
with the agitations of the mourners and the loud cries 
and lamentations as the procession moved rapidly on. 

Another large company had just been ascending 
the hill, and now came upon the mourning train, 
which it had stopped ; and that voice, which we have 
listened to so often, — those mild, gentle tones, so full 
also of the power of command, said to the mother, 

" Weep not." 

Christ had come that day from Capernaum, a dis- 
tance of 20 or 25 miles, attended by his disciples and 
a large concourse of others, who now, as he stood by 
and touched the bier and the bearers stood still, all 
gathered round with an intensity of curiosity, and an 
excitement unequalled heretofore. Could he even 
raise the dead ? That was the thought filling every 
mind and depicted on every face around, as people 
gazed on the Messiah, and from him to the corpse 
so impassive there, while the lookers on were wrought 
up to the highest degree of emotion. 

11 Young man, I say unto thee, arise." — Christ had 
spoken. 

— It was death no more. The chest heaved, the 
features relaxed, the eyes opened ; the marble pale- 
ness and rigidity had passed away. Life was there ; 
the true, breathing, active, perceptive life. The eyes 
had a bewildered, wondering expression, as if asking 



Natn. — Castle of Macherus. 191 

what all this meant ; but the ear immediately recog. 
nized a mother's tones of joy : — 

" My son, my son !" 

He sat up and began to speak ; and the crowd, 
freed from their deathlike stillness, sent up loud 
praises to God. They cried out, joyfully and confi- 
dently, "A great prophet has risen among us: 7 ' 
" God hath visited his people." 

Amid this scene of their rejoicing, there was a more 
touching spectacle, where the Messiah was delivering 
to the mother the young man, freed from the wrap- 
pings for the grave, and where her joy and gratitude 
were trying to find vent in broken words, and where 
she clasped her recovered son tightly to her heart, 
as if to feel, of a certainty, that it was all real, and as 
if she would thus secure herself from losing him 
again. 

Far over all Galilee, and through all Judea, and 
even into the remote southern borders of Perea, went 
the report of this greatest of all possible miracles, 
stirring up, wherever it spread, hopes and often a 
belief, that God had visited his nation. But yet, even 
amid that flush of joy at Nain, and the cries of glory 
to God, even by that empty bier from which Christ 
had just raised the dead, the shout was about a 
'prophet come, not about the Messiah. God, they be- 
lieved, had not forgotten. his people," and had sent 
them a great prophet ; but they kept their minds ob- 
stinately blinded against" any Messiahship, except ac- 
cording to the old opinion, of their glory and domin- 
ion to be extended over all the world. 

The rumor of this scene, and the rejoicings and 
hopes it gave rise to, reached away down to the 



192 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

castle of Macherus, John's place of strict confine- 
ment, where the vengeance of the tyrant ruler and 
his wicked wife had never once relaxed. John had 
still disciples, who were allowed to visit him ; and 
they came now and told him of what had occurred at 
Nain.* He had, at this time, been about a year in 
prison, and the long confinement had worn on the 
spirit of the bold and ardent man. It must have 
been to him, indeed, a very wearisome time ; and 
often and often he had thought, during his confine- 
ment, of the sensual tyrant, revelling in power and 
luxury, and enjoying freedom, while he, the man of 
God, was left seemingly deserted of all aid, human or 
divine. Doubts of God's goodness mix up with such 
thoughts as these, and have to be repelled by a pow- 
erful and active faith ; but often, in spite of faith, 
they will yet return. If Jesus was the Messiah, — so 
the Baptist might have queried, — why was he, John, 
left deserted, to pine away in solitude and confine- 
ment? There was the power of wonderful miracles ; 
why was it not exercised for him, the messenger sent 
to prepare the way ? Jesus had raised the dead ; 
why was there no word to set him, the living, free ? 
There was no feeling of rivalry or envy in John, and 
had not ever been ; but his was a condition where 
the soul pines and loses force under its long re- 
straints, and where its own thoughts and its chafed 
feelings sometimes become its worst tormentors. 
The various reports 1 about Christ; the questions 
started by the Rabbis; the objections from the po- 
verty of appearance and simplicity of life in Jesus ; 
the general disposition through the land to receive 

* Luke viii, 18. 



Nain.— Castle op Macherus. 193 

him only as a great prophet ; — all this must have 
reached John, — perhaps in distorted rumors ; and 
the gloom of confinement is always fruitful in doubt. 
So, calling two of his disciples, he sent them to Jesus, 
with the simple but pertinent question — 

" Art thou he that should come, or look we for 
another ?" 

The Messiah made no immediate reply, when the 
message was delivered ; and the messengers wonder- 
ing at his silence, stood aside to look on the specta- 
cle now presenting itself. It seems to have been at 
Capernaum ;* but wherever it was, the sick and 
afflicted were now coming around him, and he was 
healing all who came. Among them were numerous 
blind men,t groping, stumbling, pushing their way 
among the crowd, with the energy of the great hope 
that was in them, and with their plaintive cry to 
Christ for help. It was, indeed, an exciting scene ; — 
the crowds of applicants ; the anxiety and sympathy 
of friends ; the pathetic earnestness of all ; the glad- 
ness and rejoicings of the relieved; the wonder of 
the blind, as sight was given ; their exclamations at 
what they saw ; their earnest gazings on that face, 
all radiant with the divine benevolence ; their'thanks 
and praises, shouted out in return for this blessing, 
as the strange scenes of life were all developed to 
their eyes ; as turning their sight everywhere, upon 
earth, and sky, and lake, and upon the loved face of 
friends, and upon the gazing crowds around, and 
then back again upon the Messiah, they drank in the 
joys of their new and wonderful life. 

The disciples of John looked on and saw it all ; 

— — 1 , — t ...... , . 

* Inference from Matt, xi, 23. f Luke vii, 21. 

9 



194 Life-scenes from the Four. Gospels. 

and they heard, from the crowds, of similar miraculous 
cures of other afflictions : and now, the Messiah call- 
ing them, charged them to go and report to their 
Master what they had witnessed and heard ; and, 
also, that " to the poor the gospel is preached." No 
word of censure on John for his doubts ; but only this 
declaration, " Blessed is he whosoever shall not be of- 
fended in me."* 

Was this all ? — So these messengers might have said, 
as they went on their long journey back to John's 
gloomy prison-house at Macherus. What they had 
seen and heard was decisive as to the Messiahship ; 
but could there be no token of deliverance for John 
himself? no hope to be carried back to the prisoner, 
so wearied, so worn, and so sad ? not one word from 
this great, loving, soul of Christ, so full of benevolence 
to all around him, so ready to help the abject ? no 
cheering hope to their master of earthly help from 
him? There was none. And thus it ever is in the 
mysteries of God : often he seems to leave us deserted, 
even when we look most for his help : but, " Blessed 
are they whosoever are not offended in him." 

John's life was, however, now close to a tragic end. 
The deadly hate of the wife of Herod had never lost 
sight of him : and she feared also the influence he 
might have on the Tetrarch, who, in his heart, respected 
and honored the Baptist,! both as a man and prophet. 
At the first of his confinement she had tried to instigate 
the tyrant to have him executed ;| but a fear of John, 
and of the influence he had over the people, restrained 
him : but, suddenly, now an opportunity offered, of 
which she immediately availed herself. Herod, on his 

~a"Luke vii\23T~ "fMaik^i, 20. j lb. 10. 



Nain.— Castle of Macherus. 195 

birth-day, gave a great supper to his lords and cap- 
tains, and chief estates of Galilee ; and, when all were 
inflamed with wine, the daughter of this woman came 
in and danced for the amusement of the company. The 
dancing in the east, unlike what it is with us, is a slow 
and graceful posturizing, with a gentle movement of 
the arms and body : and it is often, also, lascivious. 
It is seldom that any woman of rank or dignity takes 
part in -it ; and among the Jews, it was also highly in- 
decorous for a woman to appear at any time before 
strangers without being veiled : but, in this case, all 
seems to have been forgotten in the madness of the 
hour ; and, in that madness the Tetrarch, in return for 
the exhibition of herself, swore to give her what she 
might ask, even if it should be the half of his kingdom. 
The oath was before all the lordly company : arid the 
girl, with high gratification, withdrew immediately to 
consult with her mother as to what she should de- 
mand. The fiendish woman sprung at the opportu- 
nity ; and told her to require the head of John the 
Baptist in a charger. The demand was made ; and 
a feeling of horror passed through the company. The 
king would have canceled his promise ; but, it was 
made so publicly, and in the presence of such high of- 
ficers, that pride and the fear of incurring ridicule, for- 
bade it : and the order for execution, as she had re- 
quired, was given. The head of John was delivered 
in a salver to the girl, and from her to her mother. 

The disciples of John came and received the body 
and buried it ; and then passed on to Galilee to com- 
municate the circumstance to the Messiah. 

How many of such mysteries of human life remain, 
to be cleared up when the great day of reckoning shall 



196 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

come, and Christ shall sit for the eternal judgment ! 
In the meantime, we walk by faith, and not by sight ; 
and, amid seeming incongruities in providences, we 
have the words still repeated down from the old times, 
y Blessed is he whosoever is not offended in me" 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE TWO DINNERS. — HEALINGS. — NAZARETH, &C. 

The Scribes and Pharisees were perplexed by the 
miracles of Christ. There were so many of these, so 
open to the critical inspection of all, enemies as well 
as friends, and so decided in their nature, that there 
was no caviling respecting the facts themselves ; and 
yet there was a set purpose in the minds of these men, 
not to believe. If they should believe, then so much 
of ambition, and hope of triumph over national ene- 
mies, and of personal aggrandizement, would have to 
be entirely relinquished ; — it seemed to them to be al- 
most demanded by patriotism that they should reject 
Christ's claims to the Messiahship. If they should ac- 
cept him, the sun in their political firmament would be 
quenched in darkness never to end. But the miracles 
were too obvious to lie gainsayed : and, moreover, 
these were affecting the public sentiment respecting 
him, and people were universally considering him a 
great prophet, if nothing more. The Pharisees felt 
that they must controvert this. When men once be- 



The two Dinners. — Nazareth, &c. 197 

gin to wish to advocate error the expedients for it 
readily present themselves : and soon after the events 
of the last chapter, we are presented with an example 
of this. The Messiah was again passing through all 
Galilee, " preaching and showing the glad tidings of the 
kingdom of God,"* and there was brought before him 
" one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb," whom 
lie healed, so that the man both spake and saw. There 
was a cry of admiration from the spectators, " Is not 
this the son of David ?" all which soon reached the 
ears of the Pharisees. 

" This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beel- 
zebub the prince of the devils," was their immediate 
response : but Christ argued with them that, " Every 
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desola- 
tion," and that, " if satan cast out satan, he is divided 
against himself ;" and he, then, in a train of terrible 
warning respecting such sin as theirs, added, "All 
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto 
men : but the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost shall not 
be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a 
Word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him : 
but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it 
shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither 
in the world to come. * * brood of vipers, how 
can ye, being evil, speak good things ? for out of the 
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. "f 

Soon after this he was invited by a Pharisee to dine 
in his house, and he went : but he found himself there 
in the midst of an assembly, — Pharisees and Scribes 
and Lawyers, — from whose presence nothing but hos- 
tility could be expected. In those countries, for a 

° Luke viii, 1. f Matt, xii, 22-34. 



198 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

man to invite another to break bread with him is to 
place the latter, at once, under the protection of the 
host, who is bound then to defend him, if necessary, 
even with his life ; and in all nations, persons who 
invite a stranger to dinner are expected by the rules 
of hospitality, to have the company at least not hostile 
to the guest. The Messiah, on looking around in this 
room, could see faces in which enmity, if concealed for 
the present, was ready at any moment, to break forth : 
for they were the class of men who had already leagued 
with the Herodians for his destruction. 

At the outset, the captious spirit of his host was dis- 
played, because the guest had not conformed to a Jew- 
ish practice, proper to some extent, but which the Phari- 
sees had inwrought into their system of traditional law, 
so as to give it prominence among those things making 
religion consist in external observances of their own 
prescription, and not in the heart. " For the Pharisees 
and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat 
not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they 
come from the market, except they wash,* they eat not. 
And many other things there be, which they have re- 
ceived to hold, as the washing of cups and pots and 
brazen vessels and tables." On another occasion than 
the present, when Christ was upbraided with the prac- 
tice of his disciples on this subject, he replied, " Well 
hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrite,s as it is writ- 
ten, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their 
heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they wor- 
ship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of 
men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye 
hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and 

° For their silly rules in this washing, see p. 184 of this bool". 



The two Dinners. — Nazareth, &c. 199 

cups ; and many other such like things ye do. And 
he said unto them, Full well ye reject the command- 
ment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 
For Moses saith, Honor thy father and thy mother ; and 
whosoever curseth father or mother, let him die the 
death : but ye say, If a man shall say to his father or 
mother, It is Corban [devoted to God], that is to say, 
a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me ; 
he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do 
aught for his father or mother ; making the word 
of God of none effect through your tradition, which 
ye have delivered ; and many such like things do ye."* 

Such was the system upheld by the individuals 
whom Christ beheld around him now, at this* dinner, 
and by one of whom — his host — he was immediately 
caviled at, for not conforming to one of those tradi- 
tionary rules. His reply was direct and pointed : 
" Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the 
cup and the platter ; but your inward part is full of 
ravening and wickedness. * * * Woe unto you, 
Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are as 
graves which appear not, and the men that walk over 
them are not aware of them." 

■ — " Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also." 

The speakers were the lawyers present, men whose 
business in life it was to expound the unwritten law. 
He turned to them : 

li Woe unto you also, ye lawyers ! for ye lade man 
with burdens grievous to born, and ye touch not the 
burden with one of your fingers. * * Woo unto 
you, lawyers ! for ye have taken away the key of 

<' See Mark vii, 6-13. 



200 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

knowledge : ye entered not in yourselves, and them 
that were entering in ye hindered." 

But the scene presently became a vociferous one ; 
for the Scribes and Pharisees*" began to urge him ve- 
hemently, and to provoke him to speak of many 
things : laying wait for him, and seeking to catch 
something out of his mouth that they might accuse 
him."* 

On his return to the Lake of Galilee, the multi- 
tudes still pressing about him in great numbers,f he 
sought refuge, as on a former occasion, in a vessel by 
the shore, and taught them thence, making his teach- 
ings, as was very often the case, in parables. J A 
parable is " an allegorical representation of some- 
thing in real life, or nature, from which a moral is 
drawn for instruction/ 7 and was a mode of teaching 
common in that country so fond of figurative lan- 
guage. In the evening he directed the vessel to be 
launched out, so as to proceed to the other side ; and 
tired out, he sank into profound sleep at the stern. 
One of those sudden squalls to which the lake is sub- 
ject came rushing down from the mountains : the 
waves came surging into the boat, till it was near 
foundering, when the disciples awoke him ; ' ; Master, 
Master, we perish." He rebuked the wind and water, 
and there was a calm. They said to each other, 
" What manner of man is this that even the winds 
and the sea obey him." 

On the eastern shore he healed two demoniacs, who 
had been " exceedingly fierce, so that no man might 
pass by that way." 

o Lr.ke xi, 37-0-4. f Matt, xiii, 1, 2. 

J Luke xii, 1-59 ; xiii, 1-9 ; Mark xiii, 1-53. 



The two Dinners. — Nazareth, &c. 201 

When he had returned to the western side of the 
lake, a great feast was made for him by Levi, (Mat- 
thew), under far different circumstances from those at 
the Pharisee's house ; for his fellow- guests were also 
the despised and outcast members of society — pub- 
licans and sinners, " for they were many, and they 
followed him." They were invited in to the feast ; 
and Matthew, it will be remembered, had been him- 
self a publican. The prying eyes of the Scribes and 
Pharisees followed him here ; and these men came 
now to his disciples with indignation, "How is it 
that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sin- 
ners ?" Christ himself had been looking on the 
guests with gentleness and tenderness of regard ; for 
they were men whose ears were open to truth, and 
their very outcast position in society made them draw 
near to him who was ever the friend of the lowly. 
He answered, " They that are whole have no need of 
the physician, but they that are sick ; I came not to 
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 

We pause here for a moment, to contrast his life, 
(as we have also just contrasted his teachings,) with 
the life of Hillel and Shammai, the most famous Eab- 
bis of that age, but who, as we are told by Jost, 
" mingled so little with the actions of their times that 
they became mythical personages." The Messiah 
lived before the public, mingled with the poor and 
despised ; yet his purity never soiled ; and the Di- 
vinity within him never lowered by this constant in- 
tercourse with the humble in life. 

Once more, after this feast witli Levi, came an 
urgent appeal for help : this one from a Jewish ruler, 
a father, who hurried to Christ and worshipped him. 



202 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

" My daughter is even now dead ; but come and 
lay thine hand on her, and she shall live." 

The Messiah went ; and, on the way, a woman long 
diseased, who touched but the hem of his garment, 
was healed. In the ruler's house he restored the 
daughter to life. 

He had passed out again, and was on his way along 
the street, when there was raised after him a loud 
and most plaintive cry — 

" Thou Son of David, have mercy on us !" 

The words seem to be almost ringing in our ears, 
so true they are to nature, like the language of ear- 
nestness in entreaty, and so sad from suffering. They 
wero from two blind men, who had been informed 
that Jesus was passing, and who fearing to lose a 
moment, raised the cry. 

He made no immediate response ; but they con- 
tinued after him with the plaintive appeal, "Thou 
Son of David, have mercy on us!" and they followed 
him into the house. He said to them, 

" Believe ye that I am able to do this ?" 
. "Yea, Lord." 

" According to your faith be it unto you ;" and he 
touched their eyes. Light flashed in : they saw : 
their extasy was- loud. 

'• See that no man know.it," he said to them ; but 
they knew not how to be silent, and went proclaim- 
ing their joy and the deed all abroad. 

Yet, with all this fame of miracles wrought through- 
out Galilee, where men had glorified God everywhere, 
for his having come, the Messiah was, at this period, 
rejected again at Nazareth, even although this town 



The two Dinners.-— Nazareth, &c. 203 

was but a short distance (eight miles) from Nam, 
where he had recently given life to the dead. 

He was now making a third circuit through Gali- 
lee, visiting all the cities and villages, teaching in 
their synagogues, preaching " the gospel of the king- 
dom," healing every sickness and every disease among 
the people.""" .He came to Nazareth in his journey, 
and again, as usual, went to their synagogue on the 
Sabbath day to preach. The citizens crowded there, 
as before, full of curiosity ■ and were puzzled and 
greatly perplexed. They looked and listened with 
astonishment, as words of power fell from his lips, 
and as they witnessed the greatness of the being be- 
fore them, in that depth of wisdom, and that extent 
of knowledge of Divine things which was shown in 
his discourse : — this preaching also upheld by such 
miraculous powers as rumor had brought to their ears, 
and which many of them may have witnessed them- 
selves. Yet, with a pertinacity which only a deter- 
mined and set jealousy could produce, they clung to 
the old ideas and said, " Is not this the carpenter, the 
son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses, and of 
Juda, and of Simon? And are not his sisters here 
with us ?" Swayed back and forth during this dis- 
course ; one way by the power of his words, by his 
quiet majesty of manner, and by that strange, singu- 
lar Presence which forced the acknowledgment from 
enemies, that " Never man spake like this man ;" and 
then, carried . again into the opposite, by the humble 
circumstances of his bringing-up, they settled at last 
into offence at liis claims ; and he left them ; nor does 

* Matt, ix, 35. 



204 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

it seem probable that he ever again returned to Na- 
zareth. 

" A prophet,'' he said, " is not without honor, but in 
his own country, and among his own kin, and in his 
own housc. ?; He laid his hands there on a few sick 
persons and healed them. 

But the work of teaching was more than one indi- 
vidual could perform, unless his presence was mirac- 
ulously multiplied, so large was the field of labor, 
and the necessity for teaching so great ; for ideas had 
to be, again and again, repeated in the ears of people 
so long misled by false teachings, and made obtuse 
by the Pharisaic absurdities. Therefore the Messiah 
now paused in his course to prepare his twelve apos- 
tles, and to send them out to teach, with power also 
to heal. They were not to excite the prejudices of 
their own Jewish people, at present, by teaching be- 
yond their own nation ; the time for a far wider mis- 
sion being not yet come. They were to go out, two 
together, and in simple manner, trusting in God for 
what, in respect to food and shelter, might be needed 
on the way ; and with a still higher trust in him, if 
they should be brought before governors and kings 
for their Master's sake. The Spirit of God was to be 
in them, and to help them in all such trials. What was 
to be their reward ? Honors and applauses ? No ; 
but, on the contrary, they were to be hated of all men 
for his name's sake. They were to endure. That 
was to be their lot, endurance ; and this to the end : 
and, after life was over, then was to be their reward. 
People had called him Beelzebub, ' " the prince of 
devils," giving him, in this rank of evil spirits, a con- 
temptuous term applied by the Jews to Satan, as the 



'•Let us make Him a King." 205 

author of all pollutions and abominations in heathen 
worship : and " how," he said, " could they, his disci- 
ples, hope to escape ? :J But in all this they were to be 
strengthened and supported from on high ; and, 
finally, their reward would come. They were to go 
in the loftiest heroism, both physical and moral ; and 
must not dare to shrink from duty. " He that find- 
eth his life shall lose it ; and he that loseth his life 
for my sake shall find it." 

Such were their instructions and the admonitions 
and warnings given : thus he sent them forth, — the 
first ministers of his word. 



CHAPTER XX. 



LET US MAKE HIM A KING. 



The rumors of what Christ was doing had reached 
the royal palace, and were now creating great per- 
plexity amoag its inmates. The base tyrant was far 
from feeling at ease after the death of John ; for the 
murder had left behind it, in the royal actors in that 
scene, a guilty conscience and its attendant alarms. 

The sensation was increased by a rumor that John 
was risen from the dead ; for that was the belief of 
some in the palace, when they heard of these wonder- 
ful scenes in Galilee ; their guilty fears at once sug- 
gesting that he had, come back, perhaps, to be an 
avenger in their midst ; others said that it was 



200 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

Elijah restored from the dead ; and some of them, 
more indefinitely, that " one of the old prophets was 
risen again." 

Herod said, " John have I beheaded ; but who is 
this of whom I hear such things ?" and he desired to 
have a sight of the individual causing such a sensa- 
tion throughout the land.* He was not gratified, 
however, at this time. 

The twelve now returned to the Messiah at Caper- 
naum, giving an account of what, during their recent 
mission, they had done and taught. 

They found such multitudes about him, that he had 
not opportunity ior even the needed refreshment of 
food. Crowds were coming and going continually, 
and making constant demands upon his time and en- 
ergies ; and nature became now quite exhausted, and 
could endure it no longer. He could refuse no one 
coming thus with earnest appeals to his sympathies 
'and kindness ; but rest was absolutely needed for his 
human frame ; and, therefore, having directed his 
disciples to have a boat prepared privately, he sought 
the requisite retirement, by crossing the lake towards 
its north eastern shore. 

But the crowds followed. Some of the company 
had recognized him in the boat, when leaving the 
city ; and the multitudes passing round the head of 
the lake, were soon gathered about him once more on 
the other side. His sympathies were deeply stirred 
by their earnestness, and his compassion moved by 
their moral destitution ; " for they were as sheep 
not having a shepherd." Having had some rest in 
the boat, he recommenced there both his teaching 

Luke ix, 7-9. 



"Let us make Him a King." 207 

and healing. For the sick had also continued to 
reach this place, having helped themselves along, or 
been borne by friends. 

The mountains east of the lake have already 
been described as rising in green rapid slopes ; and 
these appear to have been more* a pastoral region 
than the western side. But, on this occasion, the 
slopes were quickly covered by a crowd amounting 
to 5,000 men, besides women and children,* all ac- 
tuated by the deepest earnestness, as they had shown 
by having followed him so far. To persons with 
such a feeling, the Messiah's kindness and tenderness 
were ever open ; and he continued his instructions 
and his healing till a late hour in the afternoon. His 
disciples then came to him and said : 

" This is a desert place, and now the time is far 
passed : send them away, that they may go into the 
country round about, and into the villages, and buy 
themselves bread ; for they have nothing to eat." 
He answered : 

u They need not depart ; give ye them to eat." 
The disciples were astonished at the order. 

"We have here but five loaves and two fishes," 
they said. 

■" Bring them hither to me." 

They were brought ; and he directed the disciples 
to make the people sit down in companies on the 
grass. He took the bread and fishes ; and, looking 
up to heaven, he blessed and brake the loaves, and 
gave the food to his disciples ; — the disciples then 
distributing it about among the hungry people. They 
ate abundantly, the food seemingly exhaustless ; for 

P Matt, xiv, 21. 



208 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

it never failed m that unstinted meal : and after- 
wards, when all were satisfied, by his orders, what 
remained was gathered up, making twelve baskets of 
fragments.* 

Astonishment took possession of all the multitude, 
for they knew how scant had been the first supply, 
and by what a miraculous power it had been increased : 
and, as they had sat there on the grass, their eyes 
ranging over the thousands so fully satisfied, their 
feelings took words, and by and by these words be- 
gan to have a singular purpose. The scene brought 
to their minds what they had read concerning the 
bountiful supply afforded by Jehovah himself to their 
forefathers on the deserts of Arabia. Here was a 
similar miraculous provision of food ; what was left, 
after feeding so many thousand, being even more 
abundant than the original quantity. The visible 
power of God seemed to have come down into their 
nation once more. Why not recognize it ? they 
thought and said. They had been listening, that after- 
noon, to teachings such as had never been heard from 
any one on earth before, so pure, so godlike : they 
had gazed with affection mingled with awe, on those 
features where a divine love seemed to be enthroned : 
they had seen this person receiving the diseased with 
such readiness and gentleness : and had seen them, 
after they had been healed, dismissed with such words 
of kindness, that their hearts were all in harmony 
with their mental convictions, as they said to each 
other, '* This is, of a truth, the Prophet that should 
come into the world." 

But they went further. Enthusiasm is contagious ; 
©Mark vi. 31-44. 



"Let us make Him a King." 209 

and it is apt to be progressive. Daniel had spoken 
of the Messiah as The Prince, and their whole na- 
tion, and even foreign nations, had been expecting a 
mighty king. Here was the Messiah now among 
them. — " Let us make him a king ! 1y 

He had been so humble in his mode of life, and so 
retiring and unambitious, that they must act for him, 
— so they thought, — and put him into the high place 
which the prophet had designated for him, and for 
which he was so qualified. With Jesus for king, 
what might not their nation become ? Such wisdom, 
such majesty, such power over the laws of nature, 
even creative power in his hands, all seemingly only 
waiting to be raised to that dignity of rank which 
was their right ! There might be resistances from 
Herod ; but that Tetrarch was already trembling 
with imaginary fear in his palace. There would 
doubtless be hostility from the Roman government ; 
but what government, or what array of arms, could 
withstand such power as was ever resting quietly in 
their Messiah, waiting for exercise ? There would 
be acquiescence on the part of their Scribes and Phari- 
sees, when they once saw that the glory and domin- 
ion of their nation was to be the result. So the mul- 
titude could readily argue : and thus the excitement 
on that mountain-side increased, till whispers turned 
into outspoken words, and words into open demon- 
stration ; and presently there was evidence that they 
were coming to take the Messiah " by force, to make 
him a king."* 

But his kingdom was to be of a far different nature 
from that - — one in the hearts of redeemed men, and 

e John vi, 15. 



210 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

to be eternal : and knowing the intentions of the 
multitude, he quieted and dismissed them before they 
could commit themselves into the eyes of the author* 
ities ; and then " departed again into the mountain 
himself alone,"* for communion with heaven. 

He had previously sent his disciples back to the 
vessel, with directions to proceed across to Caper, 
naum. The night closed over them upon the lake ; 
and they soon began to long ardently for him, whose 
presence had always given them assurance in every 
trial For the night was stormy, and the wind di- 
rectly ahead ; and their boat was tossed about in the 
heavy sea.f They had rowed through most of the 
iiight,.j and they were still only about .half way across 
the lake,§ worn out by rowing ; when suddenly they 
saw what seemed to be some one walking on the water 
and approaching them. Fright, seized them, and they 
thought it an apparition ; but they were quickly reas- 
sured by the well-known voice of the Messiah : 
'* Be of good cheer : it is I : be not afraid." 
One of them, — the impulsive Peter — cried out : 
" Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee on the 
water ;" and he was bidden. He was on the sea im- 
mediately : and, just as Christ has often been to oth- 
ers, so he was to Peter, treating him according to his 
faith. 

Soon the heavy waves beginning to dash high against 
the disciple, who had been so far walking safely on 
the water, he forgot that the power which could make 
him walk at all, could sustain him in the heaviest seas ; 

* See Mark vi, 33-44 ; John vi, 1-16. p f Matt, xiv, 23. 

% The Jews had now adopted the Roman mode of reckoning, and 
the fourth watch commenced at 3 o'clock. 
§ John vi, 19. 



"Let us make Him a King." 211 

his faith gave way, and losing it, ho lost the Saviour's 
help, and began to sink. We need not censure the 
disciple : for we ourselves, in our trials, often forget 
that God's arm is just as strong for us in rougli weather 
as in mild, and then we also begin to sink. He cried 
for assistance, and the outstretched arm of Christ held 
him up, while the Master, in gentle reproof, said : 

" thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ?" 
The storm ceased when they reached the vessel ; and ■ 
the disciples, falling in worship before the Messiah, ex- 
claimed : 

" Of a truth thou art the Son of God. 77 
They landed at Gennesaret ; and, as soon as it was 
known that he was there, news was spread through 
all the country adjacent : and, quickly, the diseased were 
carried in beds, and laid in the street that, as he went 
by, they might but touch the hem of his garment. All 
who touched were healed." So, also, wherever he 
went through the villages or cities or country, the 
sick, too numerous to have special cases attended to, 
were brought by willing friends, and placed in a simi- 
lar manner ; and, as he passed by them, and they 
touched his garment, they found their health restored.*!- 
; It must seem strange that people should run into 
the extreme, one day, of wishing to force the Messiah 
to be king, through admiration of him ; and that the 
next day, in consequence of his teaching, even many of 
his disciples should desert him ; — the desertion so 
general, indeed, that he said to the twelve, " Will ye 
also go away? 7 ' Peter spoke up, quickly, in reply, 
" Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of 
eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou 

e Matt, xiv, 34-36. t Mark vi > 5 0- 



212 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

art the Christ, the Son of the living God." The dis- 
course that gave such umbrage was delivered in the 
synagogue at Capernaum ;* and contains passages in 
which profound spiritual matters are figuratively in- 
troduced — subjects at which captious persons might 
take offence. Perhaps the audience were captious 
in consequence of their disappointment the day pre- 
vious, and disposed to avenge themselves for their 
high-wrought but unsuccessful enthusiasm on that oc- 
casion. It is a part of our natures to run into ex- 
tremes. 

Passing now beyond the boundary of Palestine on 
the north, he healed there the daughter of a Syrophe- 
necian woman ; but soon afterwards returning, he 
went tc the region south-west of the Lake of Ti< 
berias ; and, in the brief narrative of the Gospels, 
we again perceive him on one of the solitary moun- 
tains of this district : but it was not solitary now. Not 
far off were most of the cities of Decapolis, and 
the fame of the Messiah had been spread over all the 
country ; and, soon, great multitudes had come to 
him, "having with them those that were lame, blind, 
dumb, and maimed, and many others, and cast them 
down at Jesus' feet ; and he healed them."t 

There comes up before us a scene of uncommon 
beauty and interest, as we read of those healings on 
the mountain ; where the blind, restored to sight, 
saw him whom their eyes immediately sought, sitting 
there, fitly vaulted over by the dome of heaven, and, 
in his grandeur of Presence, suited to be the centre of 
those wide surroundings of nature, — the great tem- 
ple of nature not made with hands ; where, in the ex- 

c John vi, 22-71. f Matt, xv, 30 



" Let us make Him a King." 213 

ercise of Divine power through love to men, he 
showed himself to be the fitting Deity. What glad- 
ness there was around him as the lately maimed and 
halt found that they were so no longer ; as the lately 
dumb broke forth in joyful exclamations, carrying 
with them the sympathies of all persons ; as the lately 
blind glanced at the varied sights of grandeur and 
beauty on every side, but ever turned their eyes 
quickly to rest them, in reverence and love, on him 
whose face seemed to be reflecting heaven over our 
earth ! 

But the multitudes lingered, u all glorifying tho 
God of Israel,' 7 * until at last, as in a former case, 
there was danger of suffering from hunger ; the Mes- 
siah, calling his disciples, expressed his compassion, 
adding, 

<; I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint 
in the way." 

" Whence should we have so much bread in the 
wilderness, as to feed so great a multitude?' 7 they 
asked ; for the number was 4000 men, besides women 
and children. 

" How many loaves have ye ?" They answered, 

" Seven, and a few small fishes." 

He directed the people to be seated, as on the 
former occasion ; and, having given thanks, he broke 
the bread and gave the food to his disciples for 
distribution to the hungry multitude. When all were 
satisfied, seven baskets of fragments yet remained. f 

« Matt, xv, 31. f Matt, xv, 29-38 ; Mark viii, 1-9. 



214 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE transfiguration. 

In the extreme north of Palestine, at. the foot of the 
snow-crowned Hermon, and among the broken ridges 
which surround its base, the waters of a large foun- 
tain, called Banias, burst from a care, and form at 
once a stream of considerable size. This is one of the 
three sources of the Jordan. At an early period, the 
cave, the large fountain, and the picturesque country 
around, overtopped by the Hermon, made this spot a 
much frequented resort. Near it, on an elevated table 
land, which is bounded by ravines and precipitous de- 
scents, stood a city of ancient date, but much enlarged 
and embellished by Philip, son of. Herod the Great, 
and the present Tetrarch of Batanea, Trachonitis and 
Auranitis," to whom, in the division of Herod's king- 
dom, this district had fallen. He had thought the en- 
larged city worthy of the name of his patron, Tiberius 
Caesar ; and Philippi, from his own name, was added 
to distinguish it from the other Caesarea on the Medi- 
terranean, and present political capital of Judea. 
So this was called Caesarea Philippi. 

The Messiah, after having dismissed the multitudes 
congregated on the mountain in Decapolis, returned 
to the western side of the lake, from which he passed 
northwardly towards the region above described. 
There lacked now only about nine months of the time 
e Luke iii, 1. 



The Transfiguration. 215 

of his crucifixion : and during this journey, he appears 
to have wished the twelve, for their own sakes and for 
future purposes, to make demonstrations before each 
other of their opinions respecting himself. They had 
been thrown everywhere into the society of doubting 
and captious men ; and had heard the Pharisees and 
Doctors make objections, and quote authorities ; and 
had witnessed their rancorous hostility, increasing 
every day. He wished the twelve to make it manifest 
to each other whether they were infected or not : and 
he put the question to them — 

" Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am ?"— 
they answered : 

" Some say that thou art John the Baptist ; some 
Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets ?" 
" But whom say ye that I am ? ■ Peter answered : 
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 
" Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona : for flesh and 
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father 
which is in heaven," said the Messiah : and he then pro- 
ceeded to give to that disciple a prominence of position 
in his future church.* The frank, prompt, generous na- 
ture of Peter had much in it that was attractive, with 
all the weakness and timidity which he sometimes dis- 
played. 

All physical and moral qualities in them were, in- 
deed, after a while, to pass through terrible ordeals : 
and Christ had warned them at the very outset of 
their apostleship, that they should be delivered up to 
the councils, and be scourged in their synagogues, and 
be brought before kings and governors for his sake ; 
adding also, what was the hardest of all to bear, 

o Matt, xvi, 13-20. 



216 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

" Yc shall be hated of all men for rav name's 
sake." 

The remainder of that discourse is startling for its 
positivenesss, and its exacting nature ; and it pre- 
sents to us Christ, — not tame, as people often imagine 
him to have been, but decided ; and not only firm in 
present purpose, but drawing a terrrible impressive- 
ness from future scenes. He had said, " He that loveth 
father and mother more than me is not worthy of me ; 
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is 
not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross 
and folio weth after me is not worthy of me." 

On this present occasion he said, " If any man will 
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his 
cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his 
life shall lose it ; and whosoever will lose his life for 
my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if 
he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? 
or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? 
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his 
Father, with his angels ; and then he shall reward 
every man according to his works. Verily I say unto 
you, there be some standing here which shall not 
taste of death till they shall see the Son of man com- 
ing in his kingdom." 

Was he exacting? Principle is always exacting. 
Patriotism is exacting. Love to one's country re- 
quires the mother and father to give their son, the 
daughter to give her brother or her husband, to the 
battle-field and to death, if this be necessary. Why 
should religion be less decided in its demands than 
these? The Messiah had just been telling his disci- 
ples " how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suf- 



Transfiguration. 217 

fer many things of the elders, and chief priests, and 
scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third 
day ;" and he was not only himself filled, but he was 
trying to fill them also, with the greatness of the work 
he came to perform, and which it was to be their duty 
to advance. Religion such as this is full of the grand- 
est of all thoughts and all emotions; has them for its 
groundwork, and they make an essential part of itself. 

The grandeur and glory of heaven is, in such 
thoughts and feelings, given to the earth : and while 
listening to such words from Christ, we are readily 
prepared for what came soon afterwards, — the scene 
of the transfiguration. 

Six days subsequently to the discourse related 
above, he took Peter, and James John, and conducted 
them "into a high mountain apart." The scene 
which' followed there is one which painters have very 
often tried to depict, but always without success ; for 
how can any one represent the glory of heaven im- 
pressing itself on aught of earth : least of all can 
they do it, as here shining out through Christ. We 
are told that when Moses came down from receiving 
the law on Sinai, his face shone, so that Aaron, and 
all the children of Israel, shrunk away in amazement, 
and " they were afraid to come nigh him," He was 
himself not aware of the wonderful glory in his face, 
till he saw their fright as if something supernatural 
were before them ; and, afterwards, " he put a veil on 
his face,""" and repeated this, after every subsequent 
descent from the presence of God. When Stephen 
was before the council at Jerusalem, all that sat there 
"looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had 

** Exodus xxxiv, 29-35. 



218 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 
been the face of an 'angel :"* and both this event, and 

~" Acts vi, 15. — The reader has perhaps heard of death-bed 
scenes, where the face of the departing one has been suddenly 
lighted rip, and has taken expressions, as if the spirit about to be 
released was reflecting the heavenly glory already so near at 
hand. 

The author of this book has lately witnessed a very wonderful 
scene of this description, which he will here briefly sketch : — A 
husband, feeble as an infant, in a sudden illness, and thought to be 
near to death : — in another chamber, in the same house, his wife 
also ill, and about to die. She nad, when at a distance, been in- 
formed of his condition, and hastened on to nurse him ; but in 
consequence of the fatigue of the journey operating on an already 
feeble frame, was herself immediately stricken down with a rapid 
disease. She was a person who, through life, had always seemed to 
belong rather to heaven than to earth ; so pure, so true, so lovely 
she was, so great in all excellence. It was the Sabbath, at night, a 
few days after her illness had commenced. She recognized in 
herself the approach of deatn, and asked to be carried to her hsu- 
band's room. The request was met with remonstrance, but she 
persisted :— " You would not prevent a dying wife from going to take 
a last farewell of her husband ?" She was put into a large easy 
chair, and thus carried and placed by his bedside. Many messages 
had passed between them during the day ; but they now met ; and 
it was in this brief meeting that this wonderful scene occurred. 
Her face and all its expressions became angelic— just like a reflection 
of heaven itself ; — there was a transfiguration, — an effulgence over 
all the features amazing to hehold. Six otber individuals were 
present, all of mature years, and this remarkable change was 
noticed by every one of them. Both of the sick persons were inca- 
pable of saying much, but she uttered a few_words of blessing and 
of farewell. She sat there, a heavenly brightness andjoyonher 
face, looking like a seraph ready to take the upward flight. This 
lasted about twelve minutes, at the end of which time her weak- 
ness compelled them to remove her to her own apartment. When 
placed again on her bed, she made an audible prayer, the breathings 
of which seemed not to belong to earth. Then the forecloudings 
of the approaching last scene overshadowed the mind ; and so con- 
tinued for about 24 hours, when death came ; and, without a strug- 
gle, her spirit passed as if angels had gentjy carried it away. 



Transfiguration. 219 

that at Sinai, may aid us in our endeavor to compre- 
hend the scene now in the region of Cg^area Phi- 
lippi. But they can lead us only to df'partial appre- 
ciation of it : for what mortal can fully understand 
the event or the glory, when Heaven came down and 
enveloped the mountain top, and the Divinity in 
Christ glowed forth through his mortal frame, while 
Moses and Elias stood there beside him ; — the veil 
Between the two worlds withdrawn from before the 
apostles' vision, until the supernatural became re- 
vealed. There " His face did shine as the sun, and 
his raiment was white as the light. And behold, 
there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking 
with him." The apostles were filled with mingled 
awe, and fear, and delight; and the impulsive Peter, 
in his tumult of thought, cried out with a request as 
if he might hope to make it all permanent. But such 
scenes belong permanently only to a world not stained 
with sin. A bright cloud overshadowed them ; and 
from it proceeded a voice, " This is my beloved Son, 
in whom I am well pleased : hear ye him." The dis- 
ciples fell prostrate, their faces to the earth, before 
Jehovah himself, felt to be present in this amazing 
scene ; fear, now, filling their- hearts. From this 
overwhelming agitation, they were restored by the 
touch and voice of him who still is between the ter- 
rors of the Unknown and us, and who says still to 
us when prostrate, as he did to them, "Arise, and be 
not afraid." When they arose, and u had lifted up 
their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only." He 
charged them not to make these circumstances known 
until after his rising from the dead.-" 

* Matt, xvii, 1-9. 



220 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

DISPUTES AMONG THE APOSTLES. 

On their return, the following day, to where the 
other apostles had been left, these were found under- 
going an examination by the Scribes ; a great multi- 
tude of people also being around, who, as soon as 
Christ was seen, hurried to him with glad salutations. 
Immediately a father was on his knees before him 
crying for compassion on his only child, a lunatic, 
whom he had brought to the disciples and presented 
in vain, to be healed.- — But now there was hope, for 
the Messiah himself was there, and his power was 
equal to the cure. With a reproof to his hearers for 
their want of faith, he directed the child to be brought 
before him ; and he turned to the beseeching pa- 
rent : — 

" If thou canst believe, all things are possible to 
him that believeth." 

" Lord, 1 believe : help thou mine unbelief," cried 
the father, with tears. 

The helpless boy fell to the earth in a fit ; but the 
Messiah took him by the hand, and lifted him up; 
and the happy father had him quickly in his arms 
entirely restored.* 

They left that region for Galilee ; and as they 
travelled onward, the Messiah's mind was looking 
forward to the painful end of the journey at Jerusa- 
lem ; for he, who could work miracles for the relief 
e Mark ix, 2-9. 



Disputes among the Apostles. 221 

of all others," must, in that frightful endurance on 
the cross, work none for himself; and the human 
nature in him, so mysteriously united to the Divine, 
had the full force of the anticipations of what was 
now soon to occur. .Nevertheless, he went stead- 
fastly on. He tried again to prepare his disciples, 
and repeated to them, that he should be betrayed 
to his enemies, and be put tc death, and should rise 
again ; but they did 'not understand him,* and the 
only effect was a deep sorrow, in which they felt too 
much awed to seek relief in questioning him on the 
subject, though it filled their hearts. 

But even in this time of sadness, a most unseemly 
question was started anions- them, — who should be 
greatest in the approaching kingdom of their Master ? 
and here we are again reminded how little in com- 
mon there was between him and. them, his chosen fol- 
lowers, and how solitary he was in the world. Man 
was formed for companionship, and the kind and lov- 
ing nature of Christ was peculiarly fitted for its en- 
joyments ; but there could be little companionship for 
him anywhere among the Jews, even among his fol- 
lowers themselves. In this respect he could emphati- 
cally say, " The foxes have holes, the birds of the air 
have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay 
his head." 

On their arriving at Capernaum, he called the 
apostles ; and to his inquiry about their disputes, 
they made no reply, but stood silent and abashed. 
He took, then, a little child, and, setting him in the 
midst of them, he said : 

" Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, 

o Mark ix, 30-32. 



222 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

and become as little children, ye shall not enter into 
the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall 
humble himself as this little child, is greatest in the 
kingdom of heaven. * * He that is least among 
you all, the same shall be greatest." 

The Messiah was now about to take his final leave 
of Galilee ; but, previous to his departure, he sent out 
from Capernaum seventy disciples to go before him, 
" into every city and place whither he himself should 
come." As he returned no more to this region, their 
mission was chiefly, it would seem, into the country 
east of the Jordan (Perea ;) where, and in Jerusalem, 
after this period, his time was chiefly spent. The 
seventy had nearly the same directions and the same 
authority as the twelve, on the former occasion, when 
sent through Galilee. 

He was himself now going up to Jerusalem for the 
Feast of Tabernacles ; and was about to pass perma- 
nently from the simplicity, and frankness, and gener- 
ous nature in these rural districts, to the capital, and 
to a region of country over which its influence held 
sway ; and was to encounter, at almost every step, 
the superciliousness, and pride, and captiousness of 
the Pharisees, and Doctors, and Scribes. 

The Messiah chose, for this journey to Jerusalem, 
the way through Samaria ; and in that country imme- 
diately occurred one of those incidents which showed 
the bitter hostility between its inhabitants and the 
Jews. He had sent messengers before him to one of 
their villages to make ready for his coming ; but the 
citizens of that place, when they found that he was 
going to Jerusalem, would not receive even him ; 
all regard and curiosity giving way before their 



Disputes among the Apostles. 223 

jealousy of the rival city and people. John, the most 
gentle of the disciples, was enraged at this treatment ; 
and he and James united in a request that the Mes- 
siah would allow them to call down fire from heaven 
to consume the place. The reply was, " Ye know 
not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of 
man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save 
them." 

How soon were these disciples to witness far greater 
indignities offered to him in that city, which boasted 
that God had especially chosen it for himself! 

They proceeded on their journey, and were entering 
another Samaritan town, when was heard that loud, 
plaintive appeal for help, now become familiar to the 
ears* of his followers. The cry came from ten men, 
who stood far off ; since they did not dare to ap- 
proach him, the laws of that country prohibiting it ; 
— for they were lepers. But, from that distance, the 
cry rang distinctly in his ear, — it was such an ear- 
nest, beseeching one : 

" Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 

That disease, so loathsome and horrible in itself, 
had the further horror, of cutting off those afflicted 
with it from all relations and from home ; and 
it could never have the alleviations which, in other 
cases, sometimes almost make sickness feel like a lux- 
ury, so tenderly is it ministered to by friends. The 
leprous man could have companionship only with 
other horrible objects like himself; and so these ten 
men stood together that day, isolated from all others, 
and raising their piteous cry. The Jewish laws, 
(Levit. xiii, 43-46,) said, "If the rising of the sore 
• be white reddish, in. his bald head or in his bald 



224 Life scenes from the Four Gospei . 

forehead, as the leprosy approachcth in the skin of 
the flesh; he is a leprous man, he is unclean: the 
priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean : his 
plague is in his head. And the leper in whom 
the plague is, his clothes shall be rent and his 
head bare, and. he shall put a covering upon his 
upper lip, and shall cry, ' Unclean, unclean. 7 All 
the days wherein the plague shall be in him, he 
shall be defiled ; he is unclean ; and he shall dwell 
alone, without the court shall his habitation be." 

A recent traveller in Palestine says, " In my 
walks about Zion to-day, I was taken to see the vil- 
lage or quarter assigned to the lepers lying along the 
Wall directly east of Zion gate. I was unprepared 
for the visit, and was made positively sick by the 
loathsome spectacle." Meeting them also outside the 
city, he says, "they held up towards me their hand- 
less arms, unearthly sounds gurgled through their 
throats without palates — in a word, I was horrified."* 

So, as Christ was entering this Samaritan village, 
how intensified was the cry of those ten men, as if all ex- 
istence were centred in that moment of hope. It came 
from them broken, gurgling, distant, but was heard. 

" Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." 

The company around all turned with earnestness to- 
wards him. His disciples were Jews, and had the 
jealousy of Jews towards the people of this country. 
Would he perform his miraculous healing here, espe- 
cially as they had just been rejected from one of the 
towns because they were of the race hated by this 
people, and were going to Jerusalem ? The disciples, 
not yet recovered from their indignation, felt that here 

° "The Land and the Book." 



Disputes among the Apostles. 225 

would be a good opportunity, by refusing these people 
help, to impress upon them a lesson of hospitality to 
strangers travelling through their country. The vil- 
lagers also were gathering, and watching to see how 
it would end ; and there was agitation and excitement 
on every side ; while, in the confusion incident to such 
curiosity, the sad cry from the lepers standing afar off 
was distinctly heard. 

What was the result ? It was to be, here as else- 
where, according to the faith of the applicants : and, of 
this faith there was to be, first, an open demonstration. 

" Go show yourselves unto the priests," he said to 
them. 

— They went ; and going, felt themselves healed. 
The terrible disease had disappeared from their sys- 
tem ; their eyes saw, on each other, and each on him- 
self, the newly restored flesh, their skins clean ; they 
felt the new health coursing through their veins. — We 
might imagine them now, all aglow with gratitude, 
hurrying back to thank their Divine Restorer ; but his- 
tory gives a different account. Only one returned for 
this purpose : — he was a Samaritan. He hurried back, 
glorifying God, and fell down on his face at the Mes- 
siah's feet with expressions of thanks. The Saviour 
said, " Were there not ten ? But where are the nine ? 
There are not found that returned to give glory to 
God, save this stranger. — Arise, go thy way : thy faith 
hath made thee whole."* 

o Luke xvii, 11-19. 



10' 



226 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 
CHAPTER XXIII. 

JERUSALEM — FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 

During the last of those scenes recorded in the 
preceding chapter, the Jews from all Palestine, and 
regions adjoining, and even from remote parts of the 
world, had been flocking towards Jerusalem. The 
Feast of the Tabernacles, to which they were hasten- 
ing, was their most cheerful festival, the an, festivity 
or mirth, called so by way of pre-eminence : — a time 
of great rejoicing ; all conducted in a manner and at a 
season to give a peculiar zest to their joy. The Pass- 
over was a season of more impressive solemnity : this 
least of Tabernacles was a time more given up to 
mirth. Plutarch calls it a bacchanalian season ; but 
there was certainly neither drunkenness nor rioting in 
ft, though it must be confessed that there were scenes 
in this festival that, to a person imperfectly informed, 
might easily appear like those in the drunken orgies 
of Bacchus. 

The Rabbins were accustomed to say of this feast, 
" The man who has not seen these festivals, does no,t 
know what a jubilee is f and the Talmud, il Who- 
ever hath not seen the rejoicing that was upon the 
drawing of this water, hath never seen any rejoicing 
at all."* 

It was a double festival ; 1st, to commemorate the 
living in tents during the journeying of their fore- 
fathers from Egypt ;t and 2d, it was a thanksgiving 

° Lightfoot. f Leviticus xxiii, 42-43. 



Jerusalem. — Feast of Tabebnacl.es. 



V V I 



for the fruits of the year,* answering thus to our own 
Thanksgiving Day. The time corresponded to our 
October : the fruits and harvests had then been gath- 
ered in : a time of rest for the husbandman had come : 
the garners were full : hearts were ready for rejoic- 
ing : and so, at this season, all Galilee and Judea 
moved towards their great city, and their far greater 
temple, to have a week of festivity and worship, min- 
gling religious devotion with the outpourings of the 
general joy. The people all lived, during that week, 
in booths made of branches of trees, erected on the 
flat house-tops of Jerusalem, or in the fields around 
the city ; great taste was exhibited in the construc- 
tion of these booths : rains never troubled the country 
at this period : the habits of the people were simple, 
and there was no inconvenience to them in such an 
out-door life : it was a gathering, not of distinct fami- 
lies, but of the one great family of the nation ; and 
everybody came prepared to be happy, and to give 
outward demonstrations of joy. 

We may imagine from our own yearly Thanksgiv- 
ing Day, and the family gatherings on that occasion, 
what were the feelings of the Jews when the whole 
people, old and young, came up to their great na- 
tional Thanksgiving, of divine institution, in which it 
was a duty to be joyful before God for the blessings 
of the year. No one, for seven'" days, was allowed 
to eat, or drink, or sleep outside of the booth?, 
which, on the morning of the eighth day, were all re- 
moved ; although, still the eighth day was the chief 
one of the festival ; for it was the last, and they be- 
lieved that upon the manner in which it was observed 

s Ex. xxiii, 16. 



228 Life-scenes feom the Four Gospels. 

depended the rains and crops for the ensuing year. 
During the seven days, supplications and sacrifices 
were offered for the whole world ; but the solemni- 
ties of the eighth day were wholly on their own be- 
half. 

There was a place a little below Jerusalem, pro- 
bably in the valley of the Kedron, where willows 
were cultivated for use in this festival ; for each in- 
dividual was obliged to provide himself with what 
they called the lulabb, a bundle of two twigs of wil- 
lows, three of myrtle, and a leaf of palm, tied to- 
gether with a gold, or silver, or silken band ; also a 
willow branch to lay before the altar. When they 
went up to the daily ceremonies in the temple, they 
carried the lulabb in their right hand, and a pome- 
citron branch, with fruit on it, in the left. The 
children, from early age, were taught to sway the 
lulabb, and to join in the singing ; and, in their in- 
nocence and half serious gaiety, they formed an inte- 
resting part of the great scenes of this festival on the 
temple heights. The Talmud said : " A little child 
as soon as he knows how to wave a bundle is bound to 
carry a bundle." Prepared with these, the people 
came to the usual morning sacrifice, which was at the 
earliest dawn ; and this morning sacrifice itself had 
also a distinguishing feature, belonging only to this 
feast. Wine was always a part of the daily offering : 
but, now, a priest went to the pool of Siloam at the 
outlet of the Tyropeon valley, just below the temple, 
and, with pomp and ceremony, brought water from it 
in a golden vessel ; the trumpets sounding as he 
reached the great court of the temple. He proceeded 
up the inclined plane of the altar to where two basins 



Jerusalem. — Feast of Tabernacles. 229 

were standing, one with wine ; into the other he 
poured the water, and both fluids being then ceremo- 
niously mixed, they were poured over the morning 
sacrifice, the trumpets and symbols sounding, while 
was sung, " With joy shall ye draw water out of the 
wells of salvation," (Isaiah xii, 3.) This part of the 
solemnities did not profess to be of divine institution, 
but had been established of old, they said, in memory 
of the water* so bountifully bestowed on their ances- 
tors in the desert ; and, as the Eabbis testify, was 
meant to be a symbol of the benefits to be, sometime, 
poured out and dispensed by the Holy Spirit.* 

When the libation was finished, and the smoke of the 
sacrifice began to ascend, the music recommenced ; 
and their great hymn, the Halle], rose on the morn- 
ing air from the voices of that immense throng in 
these greatly elevated courts of the temple. The great 
Hallel consisted of the cxiii, cxiv, cxv, cxvi, cxvii, and 
cxviii Psalms ; and when they came to the beginning 
of Psalm cxviii, " give thanks/ 7 &c, the whole com- 
pany waved their branches towards the four quarters 
of the world ; as they did, also, when they came to 
the " Ilosanna," (or " Save now, I beseech thee, 
Lord ") and again at the latter clause of the same 
verse, " Lord, I beseech thee send now prosperity." 
The same shaking of the branch was repeated when 
they came to the last verse of that Psalm, " give 
thanks unto the Lord ; for he is good : for his mercy 
endureth forever," and which was the finishing of the 
Hallel. 

When this daily sacrifice was completed, then com- 
menced the additional sacrifices peculiar to this occa- 
* Bloomfield. 



230 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

sion ; i. e., on each day fourteen lambs and a goat : on 
the first day also, thirteen bullocks ; on the second, 
twelve ; on the third, eleven, and so diminishing, till, 
on the seventh day seven bullocks were offered. At 
this sacrifice, hymns peculiar to it -were also sung ; on 
the first day the cv Psalm ; on the second, the xxix ; 
third day, the 1, beginning at v. 16 ; fourth day, xciv, 
at v. 16 ; fifth day, xciv, at v. 8 ; sixth day, Ixxxi 
Ps., at v. 6 ; the seventh day, Ps. lxxxif, at v. 5 ; and 
we may very easily imagine the effect of the sound of 
so many thousands of voices on those temple heights, 
while the smoke of the sacrifices was curling upward, 
towards the open sky. Sometimes the voices ceased, 
and the trumpets and cymbals were substituted ; and 
then again the Hosannas burst forth, like the voice 
of a great ocean during a storm.* Every individual 
was required to go round the altar with his lulabb 
each day : on the seventh day seven times. 

Thus it was during the day : but, in the evening, 
a very strange scene commenced ; and for this we 
will quote from Lightfoot, whose quaint language is 
so well suited to such descriptions. 

" At the time when the water was brought from 
the pool of Siloam and poured on the altar, they had 
not the liberty for their jollity, because of the seri- 
ousness and solemnity of the service then in hand : 
but when all the services of the day were over and 
night had now come, they fall to their rejoicing for 
that matter, which rejoicing is equally strange both 
for the manner and the cause. The manner was 
thus : 

" They went into the court of the women, and there 

9 Lightfoot : Temple Service. 



Jerusalem. — Feast of Tabernacles. 231 

the women placed themselves upon balconies round 
about the court, and the men stood on the ground. 
There were four candlesticks or beacons, of exceed- 
ing bigness, and mounted on exceeding great heights, 
overtoping the walls of the court of the 'Mountain 
of the House ' at a great elevation. The pipe of the 
temple began to play, and many Levites with their in- 
struments in great abundance, standing on the fifteen 
steps that went down out of the court of Israel into 
the court of the women : and whosoever of them and 
of the priests were musical, either with instrument or 
with voice, joined his music. In the meanwhile, the 
greatest grandees of the people, as the members of the 
Sanhedrim, the rulers of the synagogues, doctors of 
schools, and those that were of the highest rank and 
repute for place and religion, fell a dancing, leaping, 
singing and capering, with torches in their hands, 
with all their skill and might, whilst the women and 
common people looked on : thus they spent the most 
part of the night. And the more they abased them- 
selves (like David before the ark) in this activity, the 
more they thought they did commendably, and de- 
served praise. 

" At last, far in the night, two priests, standing 
at the gate Nicanor, do sound their trumpets ; and 
then come down to the tenth step and sound there 
again ; they come down into the court of the women 
and there sound for the third time ; and so go sound- 
ing all along the court, till they come to the east of 
it ; and there they turn themselves and look back up 
towards the temple and say thus, ' Our fathers who 
were in this place turned their backs upon the tem- 
ple of the Lord, and their faces towards the east, to- 



232 LlFE-SCENES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

wards the sun, but as for us we are towards him and 
our eyes towards him.' 

11 As the grandees danced, some of them would say 
thus, ' Blessed be thou, my youth, which hast not 
shamed my old age ;' and these were called ' Men of 
performance ;' and others would say, ' Blessed be thou, 

my old age," which has gained my youth : these were 

1 Men of repentance ;' and both of them would say, 
' Blessed is he that hath not sinned, and who that hath 
sinned, and his sin is pardoned.' 

"At length, weariness and sleepiness and satiety 
with their mirth, concludes the jollity, till another 
night. *.*«•* This was the celebration of the feast 
of Tabernacles^ day after day, only there was this dif- 
ference among the days : that on the night before the 
Sabbath that fell within the feast, and on the night be- 
fore the eighth day, which was a holy-day, they used 
not their dancing, singing and rejoicing. On the 8th 
day they had the same solemnities with the days be- 
fore, ate the pome-citrons, which they might not do 
before, and at night had the great rejoicing in the 
court of the women, and thus they concluded the feast : 
and, therefore, this by the Evangelist is called not only 
the last day, but also the great day of the feast, because 
it was a holy-day, and because it was the conclusion."* 

A very strange scene surely ; and if we now sup- 
pose ourselves on the Mount of Olives, whichv looked 
directly down upon the temple area and the whole 
city ; upon the lighted-up booths on the tops of the 
houses and over the whole country around ; upon the 
immense columns at each angle of the women's court, 

e "Temple Service." 



Jerusalem. — Feast op Tabernacles. 233 

with the blazing fires on their summit ; and on the 
torches of the dancers waving to and fro, and circling 
about in intricate lines ; and then listen to the mur- 
mur from more than two millions of wakeful people at 
the festival, mingled with the sounds of musicians and 
singers on the temple steps, we shall have a tolerably 
fair idea of what this great festival of Tabernacles 
must have been. 

The great Jewish authority, Maimonides, says of this 
dancing : " Because it was the rejoicing for keeping 
the law, to which no joy can be comparable :" and, 
therefore, he adds, " the common people and every one 
that would were not actors in this rejoicing ; for they 
neither sang nor danced," but were only spectators : 
but the actors were the great men of wisdom and re- 
ligion.* 

A remarkable passage occurs in the Talmud re- 
specting this festival. u ' Eabbi Levi saith, ' Why is 
the name of it called drawing of water ? Because of 
the drawing or pouring out of the Holy Ghost ; ac- 
cording as it is said, With joy shall ye draw water 
out of the wells of salvation.' " 

Such were the scenes at the Feast of Tabernacles, 
repeated, day after day. for seven days, with the 
slight exceptions above noticed ; and it was evidently 
a time of great hilarity, mixed with so much of a re- 
ligious character as to give, in their minds, a sanc- 
tion to great enjoyment. They felt it a duty to en- 
joy the present with thankfulness for the past ; while, 
also, from the solemnities of the eighth day, they 
might look for blessings on the coming year. 



* See Lightfoot— Temple Service. 



234 Life-scenes from: the Four Gospels. 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

THE MESSIAH AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 

'•Where is he?" 

The number of people, estimated by Joseplms, to 
be usually present at a Passover feast was, as already 
stated, two milions, seven hundred thousand ;* and 
we may suppose that it could not be much less on 
such an occasion as this. The temple ceremonies oc- 
cupied but a small portion of their time ; and great 
sociability must have prevailed amid so large an as- 
sembly. We may easily suppose what was the uni- 
versal theme ; and the great variety of forms in 
which it was discussed. 

The Messiah had not yet made his appearauce 
there ; for such scenes as those described in our last 
chapter could have little attraction for him, and he 
had resisted the solicitations of his kinsmen in Gali- 
lee to go up early to the feast. These last li did not 
believe in him ; >; t for il a prophet is not without 
honor, save in his own country f and the claims 
of the Messiah must have been startling to his own 
connexions, as we know they were to the people gen- 
erally in Nazareth. We of our time, who know what 
has been the operation of his doctrines through 
eighteen centuries, and who can compare them with 
those of all other teachers, and see how pure, how 
perfect, and how God-like they are ; and can trace, 

'' Bel. vi, 9, § 3. f John vii, 5. 



At the Feast of Tabernacles. 235 

also, the greatness of Lis life down to the wonder- 
ful self sacrifice in its close ; and who, also, are free 
from the Jewish prejudices of that day, and their ex- 
travagant expectations respecting the Messiah, may 
wonder at the obstinate resistance to Christ, and es- 
pecially to the force of all those miracles wrought 
before their eyes. But we know how the Pharisees 
parried off this last ; and we must remember how 
cramped was the Jewish mind, how narrow their in- 
tellectual horizon, and how enslaved by fear the 
largest portion of them were to men ruling by the 
power of that mysterious, undefinable unwritten law : 
— those rulers denounced by Christ as " hypocrites f 
" for/' he said, li ye compass sea and land to make 
one proselyte ; and when he is made, ye make him 
twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." 

At this feast were two sets of men, putting the ques- 
tion, " Where is he ?•" — the rulers, who did so openly ; 
and the multitudes, who, through fear of them,* " mur- 
niuredt concerning Christ," giving, in suppressed 
tones, their opinions : some saying, : ' He is a good 
man ; others, ' Nay ; but he deceiveth the people/ V 
There was among both classes an anxiety concerning 
him ; in the rulers, mingled with great fear as to 
what his influence on this vast, excitable multitude 
might become ; among the people, an intense desire 
to decide, respecting him, by what their own eyes 
might see. The people from Galilee brought aston- 
ishing rumors of the miracles performed in their 
country, very great in number, and wonderful in char- 

° John vii, 13. 

j The word Foyyvapbcf, translated murmuring, means literally a 
buzzing, very significant of their low tones in this conversation. 



236 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

actcr, which were here detailed in low tones : the 
very caution used lest the rulers should hear them 
only sharpening the curiosity of the hearers. Men 
fromDecapolis, and from the region north of Galilee, 
also described what they had seen ; and the inhabit- 
ants of Jerusalem itself could tell of the miracle at 
the pool of Bethesda, made more famous by the con- 
sequences which immediately ensued. 

It was known that there had been a breach 
between Christ and their rulers and that issue had 
been fully made ; they seeking his life, and oven 
uniting with the hostile element in the Herodians to 
effect their purpose ; and he denouncing them as hyp- 
ocrites, il transgressors of the Word of God by their 
traditions," and "blind leaders of the blind. ,; * It 
seemed as if it might be extremely perilous for him to 
appear at the festival. Still, everywhere the question 
was put — 

" Where is he ?" 

Suddenly, in the middle of the feast, it was re- 
ported that he was in the city, and even in the tem- 
ple, teaching there. Such public places, and especially 
covered porticos, as in the case of the stoae in Greece 
and Rome, were the favorite resort of teachers in 
those days ; and the Messiah appears to have imme- 
diately proceeded to the cloisters of the temple, 
choosing, probably, the great southern one, with its 
quadruple rows of pillars, called a Solomon's Porch.'' 

The Jewish rulers were astonished. Pharisees 
and Scribes from Galilee had brought them accounts 
of his teachings in that region, and of the effects pro- 
duced on the people there ; — how they admired and 

e Matt, xv, 3, 14. 



At the Feast of Tabernacles. 237 

followed him, and approved his doctrines ; and here 
he was now in their very temple-courts, apparently 
about to produce there similar effects. It was a "bold 
act, — this invasion of their precincts, and placing 
himself publicly in their presence, and before all 
the people, as a teacher. And how attentively the 
multitudes were listening to him ! The rulers looked 
out from the Sanhedrim room, and observed among the 
thickly-packed masses the conspicuous form of the 
Teacher, his earnest impressiveness of manner, his 
wonderful characteristic of that Presence which 
seemed to belong to him — a power and grandeur, and 
yet a winningness in address ; a glow in the face, 
that seemed to come partly from his earnest words 
and the nature of his teachings, and partly from his 
inner being; — they saw, and were filled with both 
wonder and alarm. It was evident that their com- 
binations against his life had not frightened him into 
silence ; and here now he was producing effects on 
those vast multitudes which might render any further 
efforts against him dangerous to themselves. 

What authority had he to teach ? was a question 
which it seemed to be too late now to put, although 
this appears to have been his first teaching in Jerusa- 
lem ; for the fixed attention of the multitudes, and 
their lighted -up and earnest faces, seemed to be fully 
endorsing his teachings, although the proceedings 
now were altogether out of regular order. For 
every one was not allowed to appear as a public 
teacher ;* and although the form of authorization 
may not have been fully established then, as the Tal- 
muds inform us, was afterwards the case, when, to be 

• Matt, xxi, 23. 



238 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

qualified, an individual must have been for pome 
years as collega of a Rabbi, and then promoted to 
this work of instruction to others ; yet, under Sham- 
mai and Hillel, in Herod the Great's time, the schools 
had already in all respects taken this shape.* " How 
knowetk this man letters, having never learned ?"t 
was a question, also, circulating around, with marvel- 
ing at the clear, sound doctrines which he taught. 
Letters, with them, or literature, consisted in a 
knowledge of their Scriptures and the oral tradi- 
tions ; and Christ, they knew, had never been the 
pupil of any Rabbi, nor drawn any knowledge from 
their schools. He answered these questions by giv- 
ing a far higher authority. " My doctrine is not 
mine, but his that sent me ;" and proceeded imme- 
diately to the declaration of a truth containing the 
deepest philosophy of our nature, and yet clear to the 
comprehension of every one of his immense audience. 
The declaration was, "If any man will do the will 
of my Father, he shall know of the doctrine :" — a 
sound philosophy, yet very little regarded by men. 
For our emotional nature governs us more than does 
our intellect. What, from the influence of our feel- 
ings, we wish to believe, we generally end with be- 
lieving. Our reason is a single element : the emo- 
tions are multifarious, often unsuspected by us, and, 
■when wrong, making readily-admitted apologies : 
they crowd around the reason, and overshadow and 
blind it. Therefore, when we wish to seek'truth, our 
first effort should be to look at our hearts, and to be 
certain that we desire it : and most of all ought vre 
to be certain that we are willing to take with it, also, 

* Tholuck in loco. t John vii, 15. 



At the Feast op Tabernacles. 239 

its consequences, making it 'practical as fast as it is 
gained. Then shall we know truth. "If any man 
will do the will of my Father, he shall know of the 
doctrine." 

The Divine Teacher then referred to the annulling 
of Moses' law, notwithstanding their hypocritical 
professions of respect for it : for, basing their acts on 
such professions, they formerly (after the cure at Beth- 
esda) " sought to slay him." — 

" Why do ye go about to kill me ?" — The people liv- 
ing in Jerusalem were aware of that purpose of their 
rulers : but it was a new idea to others : and the au- 
dience in the temple cried out in astonishment, " Thou 
art mad : who goeth about to kill thee T — He rea- 
soned with them then about his former healing, and 
about the vindictiveness on that occasion, adding, 
" Judge not according to appearance, but judge right- 
eous judgment. It had now become a scene of excite- 
ment among those people, so given to strong, outward 
demonstrations, and to quick emotions. Some of the 
people of Jerusalem said : " Is not this he whom they 
seek to kill ? But lo, he speaketh openly, and they 
say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know that this 
is the very Christ ?" — which remark was met immedi- 
ately by objections, " ^Ye know this man whence he is : 
but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence 
he is.' 7 

Their objection is another example of the difficulty 
which truth had to encounter in Judea ; for a belief 
was current that there was to be a two-fold mani- 
festation of the Messiah ; — the first at Bethlehem, af- 
ter which he would straightway disappear and be hid ; 
and that at length he would show himself ; but from 



240 LiFE-SCEXES FROM THE FoUR GOSPELS. 

what place, and at what time that would be, no one 
knew. In his first appearance at Bethlehem he should 
do nothing remarkable : in his second, was the hope 
and expectation of the nation.* 

The Messiah met this objection by referring to his 
divine origin ; and now his enemies — all the while 
watching an opportunity — made an effort to seize on 
him. But in this they did not succeed, if because his 
hour had not yet come.' 7 There was, however, after 
a while, a more formal and official effort to put a stop 
to these proceedings, and to seize upon his person. 
The Pharisees were informed that the people in num- 
bers were believing on him, and saying among them- 
selves, "When Christ cometh, will he do more mira- 
cles than these which this man doeth ?• which was 
a logic so clear to the understanding of the multi- 
tudes, and so conclusive, that it soon became alarming 
in its results. The reports from the Galileans here at 
the feast, had spread widely through the multitudes, — 
mostly country people like themselves, who did not 
stop to argue much, but came by a quick way to con- 
clusions ; and the effect was becoming epidemic. In 
a little while the public sentiment in Christ's favor 
might break through all restraints of fear for the lead- 
ers, which had kept the people in check. 

This clanger must be met at once : and for this pur- 
pose the power of the Sanhedrim was invoked.t The 
chief priests were also called upon for help ; for here, 
even in the temple, and near the altars and amid the 
festival celebrations, had this exhibition of the popu- 
lar feeling in his favor been made. 



• Lightfoot, in loco. 

t This is clearly the inference from John vii, 45-5-2. 



At the Feast of Tabernacles. 241 

" There were several ranks of priests ; all connected 
with the temple. 1st. The p!ebeia?i priests, namely, 
such as were not of the common people, but wanted 
school education, and were not reckoned among the 
learned nor such as were devoted to religion. For, see- 
ing that the whole seed of Aaron was sacerdotal .and 
priests were not so jnuch made as born, no wonder if 
some ignorant and poor were among them. Hence is 
that caution given, ' that an oblation be not given to a 
plebeian priest/ and the reason is added, ' Because 
wliosoever giveth oblation to a plebeian priest doth all 
one as if he should give it to a lion, of which it may 
be doubted whether he will tread it under feet, or eat 
it or not. [These men performed offices at the altar, 
being instructed for such duty at the time.] — 2nd. 
There were others who were called Idiot and private 
priests, who, although they were both learned and per- 
formed the public offices at the altar, yet were called 
private, because they were priests of a lower and not 
written order. — 3d. The written degree cf priests was 
four-fold, besides the degree of the high priest : 1, 
Heads of eph emeries or courses, which were twenty- 
four in number : 2, Heads of families in every course : 
3, Presidents of various offices in the temple : 4, any 
priests or Levites indeed, (although not in these or- 
ders,) that were chosen into the chief Sanhedrim. 
Chief priests, therefore, here and elsewhere, where the 
discourse is of the Sanhedrim, were they, who, being 
of the priestly or Levitical stock, were chosen into 
that chief Senate." 45 " 

They sent officers probably of the Sanhedrim or 
temple to watch for a proper opportunity to seize upon 

'« Light fctot. 
11 



242 TjIfe-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

him : and, from that time, he was closely followed and 
observed ; his words were weighed by these men ; 
keen eyes were constantly upon him, scrutinizing his 
acitons ; and official authority was waiting, till there 
should be some occasion when the seizure might be 
made without raising a tumult among the people. Mat- 
ters seemed to be coming to a crisis. All this time 
an under-current of admiration and of hearty affec- 
tion among the multitudes was growing stronger 
every hour. He said unto the people, " Yet a little 
while am I with you, and then I go unto him that 
sent me. Ye shall seek me and shall not find me, 
and where I am thither ye cannot come." These 
words perplexed both enemies and friends. 

The feast lasted, strictly speaking, onlyseven days ;* 
yet, in the law, there is also mention made of eight 
days ;t and the eighth became gradually to be con- 
sidered the greatest of all. In Josephus, (Ant. iii, 10, 
§4,) the eighth day, together with the first, is desig- 
nated as the time of especial rest. The singing and 
dancing, the night previous to this day, had been 
intermitted, as that was the beginning of this, a 
holy day, the Jewish day always commencing at sun- 
set. The booths were on this day taken down ; the 
lulabb was laid aside ; and the pome-citron was eaten ? 
which could not be done on any other day! |. The liba- 
tion of water with wine had now a more important 
meaning than on any other day ; for on the eighth day, 
according to the Talmud, " Judgment is made of the 
waters, and God determined what rains shall be for 
the following year." The Talmud says, also. "Why 

8 Lev. xxlii, 34 ; Deut. xvi, 13. 

f Lev. xxiif, 36 : Numbers xxix, 35 : see also Nehemiah viii. 18. 



At the Feast of Tabernacles. 243 

doth the law command, saying, ' offer ye water on the 
feast of the Tabernacles V The Holy, blessed God 
saith, ' offer ye waters before me on your feast of Tab- 
ernacles that the rains of the year may be blessed to 
you." " In the feast of Tabernacles it was deter- 
mined concerning the waters/'' " Why do they call it 
the house of drawing ? Because thence they draw the 
Holy Spirit."* 

Rains in Palestine are far more uncertain than with 
us : and, therefore, on this last, great day of the feast, 
their religious exercises took an intensely interesting 
form> With the deepest earnestness they raised their 
voices in the Hallel : with the most hearty devotion 
they joined in the exercises of the sacrificial offerings, 
and particularly the one peculiar to this feast, the water- 
libation. 

This eighth day of the feast arrived. On the mor- 
row the crowds were to disperse, and to return to their 
distant homes. It had been such a festival as they 
had never witnessed before : one of strong excite- 
ments, of discussions among themselves respecting this 
Wonderful Being possessing such miraculous powers, 
and so interesting in his teachings. They had seen 
him with their own eyes, and had heard him : — that 
face so grand with the Divinity glowing in all its lin- 
eaments, and yet so winning — and that voice so gen- 
tle in its modulations, all, however, so strangely 
mingled with authority. They did not wish to go 
away only half-satisfied : and now, on this last day, 
they watched for him ; and, when he came, listened 
for his words with peculiar attention, and a greatly 
increased interest. Their feelings yearned towards 

- Lightfoot. 



244 Life-scenes from the Pour Gospels. 

him ; for he had spoken to their hearts, and his words 
had reached those eternal longings which the soul 
has for an inner life and peace and satisfaction, for 
which it calls with an earnest, unceasing cry. 

The first words from him, this eighth morning, 
startled all who heard him ; — they were such an an- 
swer to all those longings. " If any man thirst, let 
him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on 
me, as the Scriptures hath said, out of his belly shall 
flow rivers of living waters."* That very water of 
Siloam, carried now by in a tankard, and received to 
the temple with loud sounds of the trumpets and 
cymbals, and with peculiar rejoicings, and when 
poured on with the wine in libations, accompanied by 
the loud Hallels of the immense multitudes, was be- 
lieved by them to be significant of the pouring out of 
the Holy Spirit, — indicative of some mighty, direct, 
supernatural influences : and here, now, that "Wonder- 
ful Being, wonderful beyond all that they had ever 
seen or heard of, called to them — 

" If any man thirst let him come unto me and 
drink :" — and said, moreover, that those who thus 
came to him, should be the means of allaying the 
eternal thirst of others. Did not their souls thirst, 
with a ceaseless cry to have the feeling assuaged 
Every man there knew and felt this to be the case. 

Many said* when they heard him : 

" Of a truth this is the prophet :" others, their 
hearts fully responding to his words : 

" This is the Christ." Some replied : 

"Shall Christ come out of Galilee;" and they 
quoted the Scriptures which said that he ought to 
- John vii, 37 38. 



At the Feast of Tabernacles. 245 

come from .Bethlehem. Thus a disputing arose 
among the crowd, and there was an agitation in those 
temple precincts ; the sacrifices of the Tabernacle 
feast still continuing. Some would have seized him : 
but the Roman garrison in Jerusalem was, on these 
occasions, particularly watchful to repress tumults. 
There was, consequently, no violence to him at this 
time. 

Among these crowds, all the while lurking and 
watching, were the officers sent by the Sanhedrim to 
seize upon any safe opportunity to arrest him : and 
they now came, and presented themselves before their 
superiors in session in the council chamber. 

u Why have ye not brought him ? r ' was the angry 
demand. They answered, 

" Never man spake like this man." 

With eyes flashing scorn and anger, the Pharisees 
spake out, 

" Are ye also deceived ? Have any of the rulers 
or of the Pharisees believed on him ? — But this people 
who know not the law are cursed ?" 

One voice in the Sanhedrim was raised for the pur- 
pose of checking such proceedings ; rather, however, 
in expostulation with the rulers than in defence of 
Christ. It was that of Nicodemus, not yet bold, as 
he afterwards became, but still not willing, by silence, 
to seemingly endorse their action. 

" Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, 
and know what he doeth ?" he asked : and the re- 
mark brought a storm of wrath upon him. 

" Art thou also of Galileo ? Search and look / for 
out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." 

Thjir hatred led them to malign even their own 



246 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

best prophets, and to falsify history : for Elijah was 
from Galiiee, as was also Jonah, and, perhaps, Na- 
hum and Hosea." 

This council seems to have broken up in a tumult 
of passion : "' And every man went unto his own 
house, "t 

Another scene of dancing and like festivities, dur- 
ing that evening, formed the closing event of the 
Feast of Tabernacles. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

BETHAXY AXD ROAD TO JERICHO. — A PARABLE. 

Away from the turbulence of the city. It is plea- 
sant, after the scenes just recorded, to find ourselves 
in the quiet country ; the Messiah there, in the enjoy- 
ment of a few hours of peace, in a family whose gen- 
erous feelings harmonized with his own. It must 
have been to him a great relief and refreshment. 

Opposite to Jerusalem, on the east, and directly 
across the brook Kedron, is the Mount of Olives, a 
range, three or four miles in length, and running 
north and south. On crossing this mountain, we find, 
at the present day, nestled in a recess among the 
projecting slopes on its eastern side, the village of 
Bethany, immediately on the site of the Bethany of 
our Saviour's time. It is almost two miles from Je- 
rusalem, by the usual road. A fountain gushes from 
the rocks at the edge of the village, which is cinbo- 

° See Alford in loco. f John vii, 11-53. 



Bethany and Road to Jericho. 247 

soined among trees, in the branches of which the 
nightingales, numerous in that land,* love to sit, and 
to sing their nightly songs. It is a quiet place, which 
the noises of the city do not reach ; and the Messiah, 
finding there a kind hospitality and a genial home, in 
the family of Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha 
and Mary, retired to this spot soon after the scenes 
of the Tabernacle festival. The night of the eighth 
day he spent at this place : in the morning he re- 
turned to the city for further teaching,? and then he 
again sought the retirement and quiet of this friendly 
house. But the cunning of enemies followed him 
even here. A lawyer somewhere in this neighbor- 
hood came trying him with questions, — 

" Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?" — 
the most important question that a human being can 
ever ask ; but put here with no good intent, only to 
find subjects for accusation or complaint. 

After all these scenes in the temple, it will be a 
relief to sit down here, and listen for a while to the 
parable narrated by our Saviour in answer to this 
lawyer ; but some topographical facts respecting the 
region where the scene of the parable was laid must 
first receive our notice. 

Bethany lies just on the western edge of the great 
desert or " Wilderness of Judea," which extends 
eastwardly from this until it reaches, the steep de- 
scent to the plain of Jericho. This latter city was 
one of those appropriated to the Priests and Levites ; 
and at the time of which we are speaking, 12,000 of 
them were residents in that place. It will be re- 
membered by the reader that the " Wilderness" was 

° " Robinson's Researches." f John viii, 2-59, 



248 Life-scenes from 'the Four Gospels. 

about GO miles long by 15 in breadth. An American 
traveller thus describes this, its most northern part : 
" The road beyond Bethany [eastward] continues to 
descend, though a number of ridges extend across 
from the north, terminating at a valley on our right, 
into which our road pretty soon declined. We 
followed this valley for three hours or more in a 
direction nearly south-east. The whole region is 
formed of limestone rock, commonly broken and pre- 
cipitous, and shooting out spurs into and athwart the 
straitened way, so as to make our progress slow and 
laborious. We were perpetually clambering over 
rocks and going down broken, precipitous declivities, 
which though really productive of no other evil than 
delay and fatigue, often threatened more serious dan- 
gers. A little grass [April 20] and a few stunted 
trees appeared in the valley and on the hill-sides, 
upon the first part of the route, just enough to relieve 
this dreary region of the aspect of the absolute ster- 
ility which characterizes the deserts of Arabia. [He 
then arrives at a fountain and the remains of a Khan, 
midway between Jerusalem and Jericho. The valley 
beyond the Khan is sparingly supplied with verdure ; 
the -mountains on either side are bare, and ' exceed- 
ingly dreary.'] At the end of perhaps an hour and a 
half from the Khan, we left the valley to the right 
hand and entered upon a region far more rugged 
than that through which we had previously passed. 
The verdure gradually diminished, till at length not 
a shrub or blade of grass was visible. Still there 
was less bare rock than before, nor was it of so dark 
a hue. The surface of the stone was more loose and 
shelving, and in many places reduced' to debris. The 



Bethany and Road to Jericho. 249 

road runs along the edge of steep precipices and 
yawning gulfs, and in a few places is overhung with 
the crags of the mountain. The aspect of the whole 
region is peculiarly savage and dreary, vieing in 
these respects, though not in overpowering grandeur, 
with the wilds of Sinai. The mountains seem to be 
loosened from their foundations and rent to pieces 
by some terrible convulsion, and then left to be 
scathed by the rays of the sun, which scorches this 
naked land with consuming heat.' ; * The place is 
still infested with robbers, as of old. 

The lawyer on this occasion had asked the Mes- 
siah, " Who is my neighbor?" and Jesus answering, 
said, " A certain man went down from Jerusalem to 
Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of 
his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving 
him half dead. And by chance there came down a 
certain priest that way ; and when he saw hiCn, he 
passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, 
when he was at the place, came and looked on him, 
and passed by on the other side. But a certain Sa- 
maritan, as he journeyed, came where he was ; and 
when he saw him he had compassion on him, and 
went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in 
oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and 
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And 
on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two 
pence and gave them to the host, and said unto him, 
'Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest 
more, when I come again I will repay thee.' Which 
now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto 
him that fell among the thieves ? And he said, He 

<* Dr. Olin. See also Josephus. Bel. iv, 8, § 2. 
11* 



250 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto 
him, Go, and do thou likewise."* 

The lawyer, completely thwarted in his purpose, 
and made to condemn himself, must have winced un- 
der the application. He, an official expounder of the 
oral law, directed, in a manner which he could not 
refute, to take a Samaritan as an example, when this 
oral law said, " If one sees one of the Gentiles- fall 
into the sea, he shall not fetch him up ; for it is said, 
Thou shalt not stand up against the blow of thy 
neighbor. But such an one is not thy neighbor. "t 

The Messiah himself remembered the ten lepers re- 
cently cured in Samaria, of whom only one returned 
to show his gratitude, and that one a Samaritan. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE MAN BORN BLIND. 

It is always an interesting spectacle when bold, 
simple, plain truth comes into antagonism with the 
cunning chicanery of men. Truth is almost sure to 
gain the victory, even to human apprehension ; and 
its opposite writhes all the more under defeat, be- 
cause the means causing this have been so simple. 

A case of such a nature, in Jerusalem, comes before 
us now, in this history ; the opponents being, oh one 
side, a street beggar ; on the other, the Jewish San- 

« Luke x, 2o-37. t Lightfoot. 



The man born Blind. 251 

hedrim ; the former single and alone, even his pa- 
rents being afraid to sustain him, though conscious 
that he was right : the latter armed with power, and 
usiug, as an instrument of terror, a new decree, — that 
" if any man did confess that Jesus was the Christ, 
he should be put out of the synagogue." There were 
three degrees of excommunication among the Jews : 
the. first, or slightest, of which was separation from 
the synagogue, and a suspension of intercourse with 
all Jews whatsoever. It lasted thirty days ; and, if 
the individual did not repent, the time might be 
doubled or tripled. The second kind of putting out 
of the synagogue was called the curse. It was pro- 
nounced with imprecations in the presence of ten men ; 
and it so thoroughly excluded the individual from all 
communion whatever with his countrymen, that they 
were not allowed to sell him even the necessaries of 
life. The third degree was solemn and absolute ex- 
clusion from all intercourse and communion with any 
other individuals of the nation ; and the criminal was 
left in the hands of God* 

The Messiah had returned from Bethany to Jeru- 
salem ; and was passing along one of its thorough- 
fares with his disciples, when they came upon an object 
that might well excite commiseration, — a man blind 
from his birth. In the disciples, however, the case 
gave rise to a psychological query, and they turned 
to the Messiah with a question which appears singu- 
lar to us, but which arose out of notions more or less 
current at that time : " Master, who did sin, this man 
or his parents, that he was born blind ?' ; The belief 
in metempsichosis, or previous existence of souls, 

m ° Jdhn's Avchaeology. 



252 LlPE-SCSXES FROM THE FoUP. GoSPELS. 

was universal among the Pharisees ; but as, in their 
opinion, the souls only of good men could be re- 
moved into other bodies, while those of bad men 
were subject to eternal punishment,' 1 * such a belief 
could not have given rise to this question. Light- 
foot says : t; It appears from this dispute that the 
ancient opinion of the Jews was, that the infant, from 
its first quickening, had some stain upon it. And. the 
great doctor, Judah, [compiler of the Mishna] was 
originally of that opinion himself. 77 The sweeping 
remark of the Pharisees, in verse 24 of this chapter ,f 
intimates that both the man and his parents were 
originally guilty of sins with which they themselves 
could not be charged. 

The Messiah replied to the disciples, that the cause 
of his being so born, was in God's own purposes for 
good, always wider than any individuality ; to which 
he added ^some other remarks ; and then he spat on 
the ground, and made clay with the spittle ; and, 
having anointed the eyes of the blind man, he bade 
him go and wash in the pool of Siloam, which was at 
the outlet of the Tyropeon valley, and probably not 
far from where this incident occurred. 

What did the man himself think of this ? The 
blind are quick-witted, and also sharp in hearing ; 
and his obeying so promptly the direction shows that 
he fully understood who was addressing him and 
what were his powers ; and the poor man must have 
been trembling with the excess of hopes. He stopped 
not, however, for inquiry or further remarks, but, 
stumbling in his haste, earnest, almost wild with 

o Jos. Bel. ii, 8, § 14 ; Antiq. xviii, 1, § 3. f John ix. 



The man born Blind. 253 

expectation, he hurried on, reached the fountain, 
washed, saw. 

Could he believe it himself? And yet there, be- 
fore him, were objects all revealed ; houses, earth, 
trees, sky, men ; a world open, all at once, upon him, 
full of its strange, moving scenes and its beautiful 
sights. How often had he wondered how things 
looked ! now he saw. How often had he tried to 
imagine what color was ! there were colors every- 
where now, though he knew not their names. There 
was the water gurgling at the fountain, with its old 
familiar sound ; he saw it now : yonder was a moun- 
tain, — Olivet, was it ? Yonder, — yes, that he knew 
must be the temple : yonder, the bridge, high in the 
air, spanning the valley of the Tyropeon. That 
hill and city at the further end of the bridge he knew 
must be Zion. Great, glorious, grand, all was to him ; 
beautiful, wonderful ! But where was Jesus, he who 
had given all this blessedness to him ? The man 
turned back into the Tyropeon valley again, and 
went up towards the city, stumbling now even worse 
than before. Distant objects seemed to be close by, 
and he put out his hand to touch them ; for his eyes 
had not yet learned to measure distances. He raised 
his foot at inequalities yards off, and brought it 
down, almost falling as he did so, on level space. 
He was more uncertain and puzzled in his movements 
than he had ever previously been ; and he went on, 
hesitating and almost falling on the even road ; yet 
amused at his mis-steps, and delighted at everything 
he saw. 

But his ears, so sharp always, were listening w T ith 
painful earnestness for that voice which he was sure 



254 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

he would recognize ; he wanted to see him. Other 
voices he soon heard j and they were in loud dis- 
pute : 

" Is not this he that sat and begged?" some asked. 

" It is he," some remarked. . 

'■ He is like him/' said others. The man said, 

11 1 am he." 
1 How were thine eyes opened?" 

" A man who is called Jesus made clay, and an- 
ointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool 
of Siloam and wash ; and I went and washed, and I 
received sight." 

" Where is he ?" 

"I know not?" 

He would have been rejoiced to know ; but he had, 
at present, no further opportunities for searching ; 
for the Jewish rulers had their watchful agents about 
the city ; and before the man could do further mis- 
chief to their cause, by satisfying the curiosity of the 
people, he was seized and led before the Sanhedrim 
itself. 

It was the Sabbath day, when all this occurred. 

The Sanhedrim were excited by what they saw and 
heard. The man was before them with eye-sight as 
good as theirs ; everybody said he had been born 
blind. If so, it was a miracle of the clearest and 
most decided character, and could not be contra- 
dicted. What should they do? He had been a 
street beggar, and every person knew him, and knew 
what the extent of his affliction had been. He could 
not be silenced, or the world silenced ; for the fame of 
this event was already spreading everywhere about : 
they could, however, perhaps confound him by ques- 



The man bokn Blind. 255 

tions, and make him contradict himself ; or, through 
fear, swerve off from any acknowledgment of the 
healer. They would try. 

They asked him how he had received his sight : and 
he answered, as he had before done to the people in 
the streets. 

" This man," they said. " is not of God, because he 
keepeth not the Sabbath day :"■ for, some of the Rab- 
bins expressly forbade applying saliva at all to the eye- 
lids on the Sabbath : others allowed it in case of in- 
flammation of the eyes.* 

" How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles," 
said other members of their council. 

— Their own Sanhedrim was becoming divided. — 
They tried him again : 

" What sayest thou of him. that he hath opened thine 
eyes ?" 

"He is a prophet," replied the bold man, bluntly 
and decidedly. 

But there might be hopes from his parents : they 
might be induced, through fear of excommunication, to 
give the subject another character, perhaps to prevari- 
cate, or at least be led to contradict their son. They 
were sent for, and made their appearance before the 
council. The latter asked : 

" Is this your son, who was born blind ? how, then, 
doth he now see ?" 

" We know that this is our son, and that he was 
born blind : but by what means he now seeth, we 
know not : or who hath opened his eyes we know not : 
he is of age ; ask him : he shall speak for himself." 

The poor man looked at them. They were his pa- 
ss Lightfoot, in loco. 



256 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

rents : and, how often, in childhood and manhood, he 
had desired, with most intense longing, to see their 
faces, to know what were their features, how they 
looked. He saw them now, his own father and 
mother, standing there ; and the longings of those 
many years were being satisfied. He was not able, 
yet, to read emotion in features ; but his quick ear 
knew, long ago, all the intonations of their voices : 
and he knew, at this time, only too well, what these 
in their reply meant ; and that they were basely aban- 
doning their son, in the very hour and joy of his re- 
covery, to the Sanhedrim, through fear ; leaving him 
to run the risk, alone, among those cunning men. 

The rulers addressed him again. He was bolder 
now, even than before ; bold in his indignation at the 
meanness of these rulers, who he saw were hoping to 
browbeat his parents into a contradiction of their son's 
words, and a denial of the greatness of his blessing ; 
and bold, also, through determination to adhere to his 
true Friend of that morning, who had given him the 
blessing. 

" Give God the praise," they said, " we know that 
this man is a sinner.' 7 

" Whether he be a sinner or no/' he answered, " I 
know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was 
blind, now I see." 

" What did he to thee ? how opened he thine eyes ?" 
— They hoped for some stumbling or contradiction in 
his words. The brave, quick-witted man seems now 
to have been in a quiet, secret enjoyment of their di- 
lemma. Indignant that this insolent and crafty tri- 
bunal should tempt him to a falsehood, and to deny 
his benefactor, and to assist in the downfall — and per- 



The man born Blind. 257 

haps violent death of one who had raised him to a joy- 
ous life, his contempt broke through all bounds, and 
threw a cutting sarcasm into his answer. 

" I have told you already, and ye did not hear : 
wherefore would ye hear it again ? will ye also be his 
disciples ?" — . 

" A stormy scene ensued. They saw now that he 
knew of Christ as one making many disciples : — how 
could he, the shrewd beggar, help knowing it, when 
the passers by at his thoroughfare had, for days, been 
full of talk about the Messiah ? — They saw that he had 
been playing with their ill-disguised hate and revenge- 
ful purposes towards Christ ; and, losing their dig- 
nity, they broke upon him with revilings : 

" Thou art his disciple ; but we are Moses' disciples. 
We know that God spake unto Moses : as for this fel- 
low we know not from whence he is." He answered, 
as before, in assumed simplicity, but severe sarcasm : 

" Why, herein is a marvellous thing that ye know 
not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine 
eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners ; 
but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his 
will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it 
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that 
was born blind. If this man were not of .God he 
could do nothing." Their reply to his logic was only 
a fierce invective loaded with Pharisaic assumption and 
scorn. 

" Thou wast altogether born in sins, and clost thou 
teach us ?" And so they drove him out of the Sanhe- 
drim's presence. 

There is a very beautiful appendage to all this ; and it 
is in the gentleness and childlike simplicity of the brave 



258 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

man, when, not long afterwards, he met the Messiah 
himself. His observations on the human face had not 
given very satisfactory results ; for they had shown 
him angry and malignant passions at work ; the cowed, 
timid looks of his parents ; the workings of disputa- 
tious curiosity ; the angry scenes of the Sanhedrim ; 
the violence of gesture and manner, when they drove 
him out. He knew that the benevolent being, who 
had given him the great blessing, was not to be sought 
among these ; but where and when should he see him, 
and hear those well remembered tones of kindness 
again ? — He heard them suddenly. The Messiah had 
knowledge of this violence in the council chamber, 
and had perhaps come to look for him ; and the man's 
eyes were, at last, fixed on the features so different 
from those in the Sanhedrim ; and he heard the same 
tones that had thrilled him before. He was asked : 
" Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" 
" Who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him ?" 
" Thou hast seen him, and it is he that talketh with 
thee." 
— "Lord I believe."— And he worshipped him.* 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE FEAST OF DEDICATION. 

It will be remembered that under Antiochus Epi- 
phanes " the Illustrious," or M the Madman/' (B. C. 

« John ix, 1-38. 



The Feast of Dedication. 259 

167,) the second temple at Jerusalem, built by Zerub- 
babel, was defiled ; the exercise of the Jewish rites 
of religion was forbidden ; a statue of the Olympic 
Jupiter was placed on the great altar, and sacrifices 
to tha,t god were there offered by the Grecian priests. 
When the nationality was restored by the Maccabees, 
and the city was in part recovered (B. C. 165) by 
the brave Judas, of that race, he found shrubs and 
weeds growing in the courts of the temple, and a 
scene^ of complete desolation over the desecrated 
grounds of Moriah. With loud lamentations, and 
with the sounds of martial music, the Jewish people 
went up to the temple ; and, while a portion of them, 
with arms in their hands, kept watch on the Syrian 
garrison still holding the adjoining citadel, others 
purified the grounds, constructed a new altar, pro- 
vided vessels for the temple services, and instituted, 
on the 25th of December * the Feast of Dedication, to 
be continued seven clays, which was ever afterwards 
held sacred in the Jewish calendar. The other three 
great feasts could be celebrated only at Jerusalem, 
but this might be observed at their homes. It was a 
time of great rejoicing ; and as lights were kept 
burning in every house throughout the night, this 
festival had also the name of Phota, or Lights. 

The anniversary of this feast occurred not long 
after the events named in the last chapter ; and, one 
day, during its continuance, as the Messiah was 
walking in the great cloister of the temple — Solo- 
mon's Porch — he was surrounded by men, designated 
by John as leaders, evidently now with no friendly 
intent. They addressed him : 

» Alford. 



260 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

" How long dost thou worry our minds :* tell us 
plainly if thou be the Christ?" 

The elements were wintry around that lofty por- 
tico, butno sk}< could be more dark and lowering than 
were the purposes of those men ; for the city was 
deeply affected by the miracles of Christ ; and the Pha- 
risees were, every day, finding themselves more power- 
less among the people, while their thirst for ven- 
geance was daily increasing. Every effort had shown 
how futile their anger was becoming ; and, worse 
than that, how easily they might be foiled by the very 
singleness and simplicity of the means used for their 
defeat. They had tried repeatedly to entrap the 
Messiah, either by efforts to lead him into the intri- 
cacies of their law, or by questions intended to involve 
him with the government, or by placing him in situa- 
tions where, whatever might be his action, troubles, 
they hoped, would ensue. One of these last was a 
recent case, where an adultress was brought before 
him ; and where, if he decided that they should let 
her go, he might be justly charged with immorality ; 
or, if he were to say that fhe law of Moses ought to be 
put in force, they might proceed to do it, and a tumult 
be raised that would bring upon him the vengeance 
of the Roman power. So, also, in the trial of the 
blind man, the beggar's simple manner had baffled 
them, and given the unprotected but'brave individual 
a quiet triumph, while they had separated in a tumuit 
of rage. % 

li How long dost thou trouble our souls ? ,? as, with 
faces indeed marked with trouble, they .encircled him 
in that portico, ready for any violence that opportu- 



Feast of Dedication. 261 

nity might suggest, yet feeling the strong necessity 
for caution ; for the castle of Antonia, at the north- 
west corner of the temple, looked directly into this 
portico, and Eoman soldiers were, in all the festival- 
times, especially on the watch* 

The Messiah said, in answer to their question : 

" I told you, and ye believed not : the works that 
I do in my Fathers name, they bear witness of me :" 
and we can imagine him looking calmly and placidly 
upon them, as they scowled and winced at this simple 
and powerful logip. For the multitudes around, lis- 
tening to this dialogue, would all remember the mira- 
cle of the man born blind and restored to sight. He 
added : 

" But ye believe not because ye are not of my 
sheep, as I said unto you, My sheep hear my voice, 
and I know them, and they follow me : and I give 
unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man- pluck them out of my hand. 
Then, finally, he gave the climax to their rage, by de- 
claring : 

" I and my Father are one." 

There were stones lying there for the finishing of 
the temple : they seized them and threatened to stone 
him. 

" Many good works have I showed you from my 
Father ; for which of these works do ye stone me?" 
he said. 

" For a good work we stone thee not ; but for blas- 
phemy ; and because that thou, being a man, makest 
thyself God." 

e Jos, Bell, ii, 12, § L 



262 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

He made no disclaimer to this charge in his reply, 
but they listened, forbearing violence, till he added : 

" If I do not the works of my Father, believe me 
not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe 
the works ; that ye may know and believe that the 
Father is in me, and I in him." 

— Again their wrath became furious ; and there 
was a rush in order to commit violence ; but he passed 
safely from among them : — " his time had not come."* 

He crossed over the Jordan into Perea ; and it is a 
relief, as we read his history, to find him once more 
away from that city of turbulence and violence and 
of corrupt men false in doctrine, and hypocritical in 
life. 

He was now breathing the pure, country air ; 
among a people of more simple habits, and more open 
to the truth. It will be remembered that he had some 
time before this, while yet at Capernaum, sent out 
seventy of his disciples, with directions to go " to 
every city and place, whither he himself would come.'' 
They had recently returned to him at Jerusalem, mak- 
ing report of their mission with joy ;t and in his 
thanksgiving on that occasion we have words referring 
to his selection of such men : 

" I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
that thou hast hid these things from the wise and pru- 
dent, and hast revealed them unto babes : even so, 
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight."J 

Indeed, the scenes which we have just been witness- 
ing in Jerusalem show clearly the wisdom in the Mes- 
siah's choice which excluded such men as the schools 
produced. 

o John x, 22-39. f Luke x, 1. % Ibid verse 21. 



Raising of Lazarus. 263 

The people resorted to him in Perea, and believed 
on him there. They said, " John did no miracle : but 
all things that John spake of this man were true."* 



CHAPTER XXVIIL 

RAISING OF LAZARUS. ' 

11 I am the resurrection and the life : he that be- 
lieveth' in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : 
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die." 

"What a power in words ! 

Those words of Christ have been like symphonies 
over the world, ever since they were uttered ; reach- 
ing the dull ear of the dying ; floating about the soli- 
tary home of the mourner grieving for friends laid in 
the grave ; meeting us, inscribed on the church-yard 
gate, as if heaven itself had been writing on its por- 
tals ; and, through all life, giving us the courage to 
meet, calmly, the fearfulness of its end. 

" I am the resurrection and the life ;•*■** whoso- 
ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." The 
history connected with those words is a very rcmarka : 
ble one. 

The Messiah, as just narrated, had gone to Perea to 
deepen the instructions given there by the seventy, and 
for other labors in that large, and, in some portions of 

* John x, 41. 



264 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

it, populous region. He was yet, however, somewhere 
in the neighborhood of the Jordan, when a message 
from the family at Bethany reached him, with a touch- 
ing, though a very modest appeal : 

" Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick." 
The message did not ask him to come back : but 
the simple fact of its being sent had evidently in it 
some kind of expectancy, either that he would come, 
or that he would send a healing communication, or at 
once speak relief. He, who »could open the eyes of the 
blind, and had cured so many in Galilee by a word, — 
among them the distant son of the nobleman at Caper- 
naum, — could heal now his sick friend by a similar 
mandate, even if he should not come to him : he, who 
was so ready to relieve strangers, and had stopped be- 
fore the beggar at the wayside, to speak words of pity 
and help, would not surely fail now, in the instance of 
those to whom he was so much attached. The mes- 
sage came from the sisters of Lazarus, stating the case 
in simple but affecting language : 

11 Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick." 
But he sent no healing word back again ; nor did 
he appear disposed himself to go : for he continued still 
two days in the same place. Such seeming abandon- 
ment, in their distress, of those who had showed him 
hospitality so often, might very well excite wonder in 
the minds of the disciples. This family were among 
the few of his open and avowed friends, defying the 
edict of the Sanhedrim : but he seemed now to forsake 
them in their hour of pressing need. H13 remark, 
when the message from Bethany reached him, might 
appear to them to have even a tinge of selfishness in 
it : " This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory 



Raising op Lazarus. 265 

of God, that the Son of God might be glorified there- 
by." The} 7 watched him anxiously ; for no one could 
know that family at Bethany, as they did, without lov- 
ing them : but still no message thither : no word of 
relief. — Finally, he said : 

" Our friend Lazarus is dead." 
The disciples were shocked and distressed. Just 
so had he treated John. Was this treatment of nearest 
friends a sample of what they themselves might ex- 
pect ? They had rejoiced in his supernatural powers, 
and had felt, that, whatever afflictions might come 
upon them, they had a friend in their Leader, who 
was equal to every extremity, and might be relied 
on for help. But was this case, and was John's, an 
example of his. relief? He had told them that they 
should be persecuted for his sake ; and had drawn 
many a dark picture of the sufferings they were to 
endure ; and had called upon them to brace them« 
selves up for endurance : what then ? — To be deserted 
in the end ? They had always comprehended his mean- 
ing imperfectly. His words had a' mystical sense to 
them, containing promises of final victory and re- 
wards ; but all these promises had - come to them 
darkly and were but half understood. His present 
kindness, goodness, and power had been their trust ; 
but here w % as a manifestation chat startled them, a de- 
sertion of a beloved friend and a kind family : Laza- 
rus was dead ! 
| In the meanwhile, those sisters at Bethany had 
i watched by the bedside of the dying man ; mingling 
i with their afflictions, as they saw life ebbing away, 
I many a discomforting thought of him who might so 
! easily have helped, and did not help. They had to 



266 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

keep this grief to themselves ; for they could not, be- 
fore their visitors and sympathizers at the bedside, 
speak words that might seem to be disparaging to 
Christ, or containing reproach : and these thoughts 
were all the more corroding and heavy because they 
had to be kept hid within their hearts. They had 
listened, with painful nervousness, for quick footsteps 
bringing news of his coming : none came. Hope rose 
at everv unusual sound out of the room, and died 
away, and rose again ; and still kept flickering on, 
as the life, too, was flickering there, on that bed of 
pain. 

All in vain : — in vain ! 

The blow came at last. They had been cherishing 
a double hope, both of Christ's quick presence, and 
his word of healing : all was lost. They had now 
the double grief, the crushing weight from their 
brother's death, and from that apparent neglect by 
one whom their brother and they had so much loved 
and trusted, and by whom he might have been, but 
was not, saved. ' 

They buried the corpse in the usual manner ; their 
friends from the village and from Jerusalem condol- 
ing with them, and giving the usual loud tokens of 
grief. These friends sometimes — and the sister could 
not help overhearing them, if, indeed, the words were 
not spoken for their hearing — sometimes wondered 
why Jesus had not come or sent help ; sometimes 
with words of doubt about him, sometimes mixing 
censures for his neglect ; but the sisters had to keep 
their own thoughts and feelings crushed down within 
themselves, — a very heavy weight on their already 
overburdened hearts. 



Raising of Lazarus. 267 

When lie had announced the death of Lazarus to 
the disciples, he had added : " And I am glad for 
your sakes that I was not there, to the intent that ye 
may believe : nevertheless let us go unto him." 

Thomas, referring, doubtless, to the late attempt at 
Jerusalem to stone him, and to his own predictions 
about his approaching death, said to the other disci- 
ples, il Let us also go that we may die with him." 
And they proceeded towards Bethany, by slow stages, 
however ; for they were four days getting to that 
town, although the distance was not very great. 

Their journey was in the winter time, and lay across 
that desolate region of the Wilderness of Judea, al- 
ways gloomy, but doubly so at this season of the year. 
And as the apostles followed the Messiah over the 
bleak, cold waste, they had time for many reflections ; 
and thejr reflections might well be of a sombre kind, 
corresponding to the scenes around. They had left 
home, occupations, domestic comforts, in order to fol- 
low this new Master, proclaimed by John to be the 
Son of God. Bright visions of earthly glory and 
power had been flickering before them, but not one 
of these had ever yet been realized. On the con- 
trary, they had been scoffed at by the rulers at Jeru- 
salem, and their Master himself was near being stoned 
in the very temple by the agents of the Sanhedrim. 
He had miraculous powers, undoubtedly ; but he 
never exercised them for any aggrandizement, such 
as had been their chief expectations in leaving all to 
follow him. He had just been telling them what 
they might expect in future. Honors ? power ? glory ? 
rank ? No ; but stripes, persecutions, hatred, and 
death by violence. He had promised them comfort 



268 LlFE-SCENES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

from on high, and had given assurance of his help ; 
but here was Lazarus, the "beloved friend, neglected 
in his need and now dead. What, as respected them- 
selves, in the dreary prospect of the future — more 
dreary far than this utter desolation of nature around 
them : the crumbling, chalky cliffs ; the shelterless 
wastes ; the sharp, biting winds ; the wintry skies, 
frowning down on the wide, bleak scene below ? 

They drew their garments ' around them, their 
hearts more gloomy than the skies or the wastes of 
the wilderness ; and so they travelled over those 
long miles, till at last they came in sight of Bethany ; 
no cheerful greeting, however, awaiting them now, 
as in the former times. 

The Messiah did not enter the town at once, but re- 
mained on its outskirts : intelligence, however, was 
immediately carried to Martha, one of the sisters, that 
he had come. She hurried out ; and that deep, addi- 
tional grief, as of a felt neglect, broke out before him : 

" Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not 
died." She added, " but I know that even now, what- 
soever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." 
He said : 

" Thy brother shall rise again ;" — and she replied : 

" I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection 
at the last day/' 

" I am the resurrection and the life : he that believ- 
eth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : 
and whosoever believeth and liveth in me shall never 
die. Believcst thou this ?" 

" Yea, Lord : I believe that thou art the Christ, 
the son of God, which should come into the world." 



Raising of Lazarus. 269 

Leaving him there, she hurried back to her sister 
Mary, with the news : 

" The Master is come and calleth for thee." 

The lamentations on such occasions lasted eight 
days ; and there were many mourners and sympa- 
thizers iii the house, who, seeing Mary rise hastily 
and go out, followed her, saying : 

" She goeth unto the grave to weep there." 

Hurrying on, the whole company of visitors came 
immediately in front of the Messiah, and found Mary 
at his feet, where she also had let out her bitter grief, 
in the same cry as that of Martha. 

" Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not 
died." 

The company around joined their weeping with 
hers. The Messiah was convulsed with strong emo- 
tions in his deep sympathies with human griefs : for 
this scene was but a sample of what is ever occurring 
in our world. He asked : 

"Where have ye laid him ?" 

" Lord, come and see." 

Jesus wept. 

'" Behold," said the company, " how he .oved him." 
Some of them asked : 

" Could not this man which hath opened the eyes 
of the blind have caused that even this man should 
not have died ?" 

Again that convulsion of grief, as they were ad- 
vancing towards the tomb. There could be no 
longer a doubt, in the mind of any one, of his affec- 
tion for Lazarus, and of the deep sympathies for the 
distress before him : and the feelings of the sisters, — 
if any doubts had crept into them, — were fully satis- 



270 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

fied. In silence, they reached presently the place 
where the body had been interred, — a cave, with a 
stone in front closing the entrance. The mourners 
were thinking of the gloom and desolation within, the 
horror of that abandonment by the world to corrup- 
tion and the worm, — when the silence was broken by 
Christ's ordering the stone to be taken away. Mar- 
tha interposed a remonstrance, that by this time the 
body must be offensive ; for it had now been there 
four days : but he replied : 

" Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst be- 
lieve, thou shouldst see the glory of God ?" 

— The scene changed immediately : for now every 
one supposed that there was some strange demonstra- 
tion at hand. The solemnity of mourning and the 
wailing cries ceased : crowds pressed forward : a 
low murmur of voices went among them : — ■" What 
was meant ? — Corruption had advanced in the body : 
death's work had been fully sealed by decay : al] 
power now seemed to be in vain : what would he at- 
tempt?" The mourners at Bethany from Jerusalem 
seem to have been from the higher classes ;* and 
strange feelings were at work in their hearts, some 
of these not friendly to Christ. But curiosity was 
uppermost. 

By this time the stone had been rolled away. 
They could see in to where the dim light half re- 
vealed the scene, in which death held his fearful rule \ 
the silence and gloom all made more impressive by 
the deeply earnest life-scene at the mouth of the cave. 

For solemnity had given place to intense curiosity, 

. — 1_ 

° See John xi, 3L, 33, 36 and 45, in connection with John's dis- 
tinction between " the Jews " and "the people," in vii, 12, 13. 



Raising of Lazarus. 271 

and a crowd of faces— sometimes showing bad pas- 
sions, more often hope, was without ; every linea- 
ment drawn into the utmost tension of expectancy. 
The company tried to read in the face of the Mes- 
siah his intentions ; or they peered into the entrance 
of the tomb, — all there so still and death-like. 
Christ's features still showed the marks of his recent 
strong emotions ; but his face, though sad in its deep 
sympathies, had still on it the grandeur of power and 
command. 

The commotion from this expectancy had ceased 
and was succeeded by a painful silence among the 
crowd. They gazed on Christ ; and when his lips 
now opened, their hearts throbbed as if about to 
burst in their emotion. But it was not as they ex- 
pected. — It was in prayer. — 

"Father, I thank thee that thou nast heard me. 
And I know that thou nearest me always : but be- 
cause of the people which stand by I said it, that 
they may believe that thou hast sent me." 

Turning, then, to the grave he said, in a .oud 
voice, — 

" Lazarus, come forth !" 

There was a sound in the cave, where all had just 
been in that stillness of death ; a rustling, as of a 
movement there ; a further noise of motion ; and 
Lazarus presently stood before the gazing, excited, 
frightened, shrinking throng ; his body still swathed, 
as customary with the dead, and a napkin bound over 
his face. This was removed ; and the features, 
though shrunken and emaciated by the disease, were 
fall of life. The sisters had their loved brother again ! 
The feelings of the crowd had been worked up to 



272 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

such a pitch of tension that it seemed as if their na- 
ture could scarcely have stood the trial of that scene 
much longer ; but now they breathed freely again, 
and their full hearts found vent, some in tones of joy, 
some in praises and thanksgivings, and in congratu- 
lations to the family and to Lazarus himself. Some 
turned wondering, glad, and believing eyes on the 
Messiah himself, and received full faith in him into 
their own hearts, with a reverence and affection that 
filled them with new and thrilling joys. — Some went 
straight to the Pharisees to tell them what had been 
done. 

In Jerusalem there was a commotion in conse- 
quence. The news of the miracle, the most wonder- 
ful that could be performed, was rapidly spreading 
over the city ; and the members of the Sanhedrim 
were called together, much puzzled, and now greatly 
alarmed. 

" What shall wo do ?"' they said; "for this man 
doeth many miracles. If we let him alone, all men 
will believe on him, and the Pharisees will come and 
take away both our place and nation.'" 7 

But Caiaphas, then high priest, relieved them from 
their dilemma by declaring authoritatively : 

'• Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is 
expedient that one man die for the people, and that 
the whole nation perish not.' 7 

They took him at his word, prophetic, and not 
fully understood even by himself; and from that day 
forth " they took council together for to put Jesus to 
death." 7 " They believed that Christ or themselves 
must perish : and the manner in which his fame was 

» John xi, 1-53. 



In Ephraim and Perea. 273 

spreading, and the astounding nature of his mira- 
cles gave them now but a little time for choice. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

IN EPHRAIM AND PEREA. 

The site of Ephraim, the city to which the Messiah 
retired with his disciples after raising Lazarus and 
the determination of the Sanhedrim in consequence,* 
is not fully known at present, but is supposed to have 
been where el-Taiyibeh is now situated. This is a 
town twenty miles north-east ot Jerusalem, and on 
such a lofty eminence as to overlook the whole de- 
sert of Judea, adjacent to it on the east, and also the 
valley of the Jordan, with portions of Perea beyond 
the river. From this he made visits to the neighbor- 
ing country, and also extensive journeys through 
Perea; but there is some obscurity attending this 
part of our Saviour's life. Doubtless it was active ; 
and critics place, during these few months, the heal- 
ing of the infirm woman in a synagogue, exciting the 
indignation of the rulers of that place of worship, 
because it was done on their Sabbath day.f On 
another occasion he was dining with a Pharisee on the 
Sabbath when a similar case occurred. The hospitali- 
ties of the house were no safeguard against the ma- 
chinations of his enemies, and " they watched him /"J 

o John xi, 54. f Luke xiii, 10-17. % Luke xiv, 1. 

12* 



2?4 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

A man afflicted with dropsy was brought there, per- 
haps in order to produce results on which the Phari- 
sees and lawyers, who were also guests, might bring 
against him a charge of violating the Sabbath. He 
knew their thoughts, and said, " Is it lawful to heal 
on the Sabbath day ?" They considered it best to be 
silent ; and taking the man, he healed him, and sent 
him away ; saying to the company, in the same strain 
with which he had recently silenced the rulers in the 
synagogue : " Which of you shall have an ass or ox 
fallen into a pit and will not straightway pull him out 
on the Sabbath day."* The people rejoiced at " the 
glorious things done by him." 

The Messiah observed the jealous eagerness of the 
guests to have the places of highest honor at the 
feast ; and he gave them now some admonitions on 
this subject, ending with the declaration, " For who* 
soever exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted." Then, turning 
to his host, he added, in a similar strain : 

' il When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not 
thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, 
nor thy neighbors ; lest they also bid thee again and 
a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest 
a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the 
blind j and then thou shalt be blessed. For they 
cannot recompense thee ; for thou shalt be recom- 
pensed at the resurrection of the just." 

We have next, in these journeyings, a scene alto- 
gether characteristic ; and, with it, some parables, 
which have, ever since, been food to the souls of men 
wherever they have been heard. Men have written 
e Matt, xiil, 10-17. 



In Ephraim and Perea. 275 

and spoken words to delight the fancy, or to contri- 
bute to physical enjoyment, often in such a manner as 
to win the highest applause : but -words to feed the 
soul, even though plain and simple, are in value far 
beyond all other words. Men feel them to be so j 
and, although their lips may sometimes treat them 
lightly, yet the inward conviction acknowledges 
them, and the heart bows in full recognition of their 
worth. 

On the occasion thus referred to we are told, 
" Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sin- 
ners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and Scribes 
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners and 
eateth with them." Christ attracted the despised in 
the world, and the lost. We can almost see those 
throngs around him, gazing on that face where 
authority was so softened by gentleness of expressioti, 
and where majesty was so tempered with kindness of 
manner, that none could feel repelled. The Jewish, 
Kabbis stalked with a lordly step among those of in- 
ferior degree ; they felt it necessary to sustain their 
reputed sanctity by a distance of manner, and by the 
exclusiveness of caste ; and, in John vii, 49, we hear 
them declare n that this people who knoweth not 
the law [doubtless meaning the unwritten law] are 
cursed." 

Therefore we may readily imagine with what feel- 
ings of attachment, as well as of wonder, the multi- 
tudes followed Christ ; -gazed upon those features so 
divine in their expression ; felt attracted by that Pres- 
ence which seemed not to be of earth, yet never awed 
any one into a fearfulness in approaching ; and how 
they listened to his words, so different in their mean- 



276 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ing, and in the tone in which they were uttered, from 
any thing else which they had ever before heard. 

Let us pause here, and listen to his words. Let us 
try, in listening, to picture to our own minds that hu- 
man form enshrining the Divinity ; that countenance 
with the grandeur of the divine expression tempered 
with winningness ; the lineaments moulded by that, 
unutterable love which was never weakness but had 
always the highest heroism of love ; the eyes in 
which heaven seemed to look out on earth. Let us 
listen : — 

" What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if 
he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and 
nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is 
lost, until he find it ? And when he hath found it, he 
layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he 
cometh home, he calleth together his friends and 
neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me ; for 
I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto 
you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one 
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and 
nine just persons, which need no repentance. 

" Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, 
if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and 
sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 
And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends 
and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me ; 
for I have found the piece which I had lost. Like- 
wise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of 
the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. 

"And he said, A certain man had two sons ; and 
the younger of them said to his father, Father, give 
me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he 



In Ephraim and Perea. 277 

divided unto them his living. And not many days 
after, the younger son gathered all together, and look 
his journey into a far country, and there wasted his 
substance with riotous living. And when he had 
spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land ; 
and he began to be in want. And he went and joined 
himself to a citizen of that country ; and he sent him 
into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have 
filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat ; 
and no man gave unto him. And when he came to 
himself, he said, How many hired servants of my 
father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish 
with hunger ! I will arise and go to my father, and 
will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against 
heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be 
called thy son : make me as one of thy hired servants. 
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was 
yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had com- 
passion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned 
against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more 
worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to 
his servants, Bring forth the bes.t robe, and put it on 
him ; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his 
feet : and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it ; and 
let us eat, and be merry : for this my son was dead, 
and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found. And 
they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in 
the field : and as he came and drew nigh to the house, 
he heard music and dancing. And he called one of 
the servants, and asked what these things meant. And 
he said unto him, Thy brother is come ; and thy father 
hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received 



278 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would 
not go in : therefore came his father out, and entreated 
him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these 
many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at 
any time thy commandment : and yet thou never 
gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my 
friends : but as soon as this thy son was come, which 
hath devoured thy living witli harlots, thou hast killed 
for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, 
thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It 
was meet that we should make merry, and be glad ; 
for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; and 
was lost, and is found." 

This period during the Messiah's last retirement 
from Jerusalem — spent probably chiefly in Perea, in 
order to deepen the instructions by the seventy — 
abounds in parables and practical admonitions ; 
among the former, that of the Rich Man and Lazarus, 
and also one showing to every man feeling himself to 
be a lost sinner, how he must approach to God. 

11 Two men went up into the temple to pray : the 
one a Pharisee, the other a publican. ' The Pharisee 
stood and prayed thus within himself, God, I thank 
thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, un- 
just, or even as this publican. I fast twice in a week, 
I give tithes of all I possess. And the publican, 
standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes 
unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be 
merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went 
down to his house justified rather than the other : for 
every one that exalteth himself shall be abased : and 
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." 

A scene occurred during this visit to Perea, which 



In Ephraim and Perea. 279 

painters have often endeavored to exhibit on canvass, 
but which is far beyond the powers of art to reach. 
It is easy to portray man in the coarser passions, and 
grosser exhibitions of his nature : but the more any 
individual rises into the true heaven-like nobility of 
soul ; and the grand thoughts and great emotions of 
such nobility show through the eyes and take expres- 
sion on the face, the more the act of copying verges 
upon the impossible. Who, then, can paint the Mes- 
siah, in any scene, but especially in that to which we 
now refer ? 

It was that of his receiving the little children 
brought to him in order that " he might put his hands 
on them and pray." His disciples rebuked those who 
brought them ; but he checked his followers : — 

" Suffer the little children to come unto me and for- 
bid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of God. 
Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the 
kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter 
therein." 

He took them up in his arms, and put his hands on 
them and blessed them.* 

His kindly, genial feeling towards children, and the 
manner in which he attracted them towards himself, 
form one of the most pleasing characteristics of his 
ministry on earth. Often we are lost in wonder, and 
often we are awed by the incidents of this ministry, 
but there is a charm to all our finer feelings of admir- 
ation and love, as we see the children clustering about 
his knees ; and see, from all those scenes,- how strong 
must have been the sympathy in them towards him, in 
him towards them. He speaks of their likeness to 
» Matt, xix, 13-15 : Mark x, 13-16. 



280 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

the kingdom of heaven : he tells us that, unless we be- 
come humble like a child ; — have its full, unquestion- 
ing love and confidence, but in our case towards God ; 
— the humble yielding up of ourselves to Him, as child- 
ren give themselves into their parents' arms, — we can- 
not see the kingdom of God. 

The greatest men arc, more frequently than other- 
wise, noted for a childlike simplicity of manners ; and 
Coleridge says, " Men of true genius give themselves 
up to the first simple impressions of common things. 
They are content to wonder, and smile, and admire, 
just as they did when they were children ; it is the 
opening of the heart to all sweet influences." 

One of the most beautiful things in the world is a 
person, mature in years, but still keeping the heart 
fresh as in early life. Individuals may sometimes be 
seen, even of advanced age, but with the feelings all 
genial, and kind, and responsive ; — in their heart life 
never growing old. But such persons are rare. The 
writer of this work has had the happiness to number 
among his intimate friends one of this class, a person 
(lately deceased) of the highest scientific reputation 
abroad as weli as at home, but more remarkable still 
for carrying the bloom and freshness of life even 
beyond his eightieth year. He loved children, and 
they always loved him. 



Jericho. 281 



CHAPTER XXX. 

JERICHO. 

A stranger travelling, in the times of our Saviour, 
eastwardly from Bethany, along the high-road would, 
after five or six hours spent in crossing that dreary 
Wilderness of Judea, be suddenly startled by a view 
as if some enchantment had operated upon his sight. 
Standing on a hill-top, — all around him as bare as 
barrenness itself can be — and so had been the scenery 
throughout this journey, — he would now look directly 
down on one of the most verdant and most perfectly 
beautiful spots on the face of the globe ; — a mass of 
deepest and thickest verdure ; a garden-like place, 
thirty miles or more in length by fifteen in width, all 
in the highest cultivation ; palms, the most beautiful 
and graceful of trees ever seen in any country, waving 
their feathery tops, as, in groups or singly all over 
the landscape, they rose high above other trees of 
great variety and beauty; a large city also, with 
signs of wealth about it ; palaces ; a castle for de- 
fence ; a hippodrome ; an amphitheatre ; villages and 
scattered dwellings, amid the unbroken garden ; foun- 
tains and rivulets gleaming in the sunshine ; a river 
meandering along the farther edge of this vast plain ; 
beyond the river a narrow plain, backed witn a range 
of lofty mountains ; and on the right a lake or sea, 
stretching on, till hid by some mountain spurs. 
The plain was that of Jericho : the city was one 



282 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

called by the same name ; the river, the Jordan ; the 
wide expanse of water, the Dead Sea ; the mountains 
on the east, the range of Nebo, Moses' place of mys- 
terious burial by unseen hands. 

Even now, although almost entirely forsaken, and 
lying waste, this plain of Jericho still breaks most 
agreeably on the traveller's eyes, so long blinded by 
the glare from the white hills of the Wilderness. 
What, then, must it have been in those days we are 
speaking of, when Jericho was, among Jewish cities, 
exceeded in size only by Jerusalem ; and when the 
plain was the pride and boast of all the nation for its 
fertility, its extraordinary productions, and its cli- 
mate (called " Egyptian,") seeming in temperature as 
if some choice spot of an intertropical country, with 
its heat, had been taken up and set down here in a 
region entirely different. This tropical nature of the 
climate made the place a favorite retreat, in winter, 
for those who might wish to escape the bleakness of 
the " Hill Country " of Judea, and of the capital 
itself. 

The conformation of the ground here is singular. 
It looks as if an immense region had been scooped 
out of the general natural elevation in that country, 
making room for a great plain, for a sea, and for 
a river ; all sunk down to an unnatural depth. The 
Dead Sea, to which the southern end of this plain ex- 
tends, has its surface, 1312 feet below that of the 
Mediterranean ;* and, therefore, a traveller coming 
from the " Hill Country" of Jerusalem, and the equally 
elevated grounds of the " Wilderness," seems here to 
descend into a chasm in the earth, which, indeed, is 

• Stanley's Sinai and Palestine. 



Jericho. 283 

really the case. Yet in this chasm flows the Jordan, 
to discharge itself here into that sluggish lake ; and 
the plain of Jericho, which, at its southern end, bor- 
ders on the Dead Sea, has but a small elevation above 
the stream. Travelling on the plain towards, the 
river, Ave come, on approaching it, to a descent of 
fifty or sixty feet ; then there is again a level for a 
short space, and then, about six feet below, is the 
Jordan, fringed with willows and rushes, its width 
here from eighty to a hundred feet, its depth ten or 
twelve, and its current very strong.* 

The great depth of this plain, with the reflection of 
the sun upon it from the bare surrounding hills, will 
account for its tropical growth of plants and trees. 
The palm grew here in such luxuriance that in the 
days of Moses (Deut. xxxiv, 3,) Jericho was already 
designated as the " city of palm trees." Josephus 
speaks of the palms in his day, as being " of many 
sorts different from each other in taste and name :" 
and adds : " The better sort of them yield an excel- 
lent kind of honey, not much inferior in sweetness to 
other honey. This country will produce honey from 
bees : it also bears the balsam, which is the most pre- 
cious of all the fruits in that place ; cypress trees also, 
and those that bear the myro-balsam ; so that he who 
should pronounce this place to be divine, would not 
be mistaken, wherein is such plenty of trees produced 
as are very rare and of the most excellent sort. And, 
indeed, if we speak of those other fruits, it will not 
be easy to light on any climate on the habitable earth, 
that can well be compared to it, — what is here sown 
comes up in such clusters : the cause of which seems 

<* Robinson. 



284 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

to me to be the warmth of the air, and the fertility of 
the waters ; the warmth calling forth the sprouts 
and making them spread, and the moisture making 
every one of them take root firmly, and supply that 
virtue which it stands in need of in summer-time."" 
He adds : " The ambient air is here, also, of so good 
a temperature, that the people of the country are 
clothed in linen only, even when snow covers the 
rest of Judea." 

Herod the Great had built there a palace for him- 
self, which was afterwards repaired and ornamented 
by Archelaus with great splendor : also an amphi- 
theatre and a hippodrome, and, on a spur of moun- 
tain overlooking the city, a citadel, and in it a very 
fine and strong building dedicated to his mother, 
and called Cypros.f 

The hippodrome had come, by and by, to have a 
strange history connected with it, one of the most sin- 
gular in all the records of purposed crime. For Herod, 
when that dreadful disease which ended his life was 
growing upon him, and he found that he must die, de- 
termined that there should be, by compulsion, a gen- 
eral mourning throughout Judea at his death. He 
ordered the principal men of the Jewish nation to as- 
semble at Jericho : and when they were there, had 
them shut up in the hippodrome. He now sent for 
his sister and her husband, and laid before them his 
plan, which was, that at his decease, his soldiers 
should be let loose upon these men, and all of them 
should be put to death, in order that " the whole na- 
tion should mourn from their very soul, which other- 
wise would be done in sport and mockery only. So 
<* Bel. iv, 8, §3. t Bel. i, 2, §9. 



Jericho. 285 

he deplored his condition with tears in his eyes, and 
obtested them by the kindness owed from them as his 
kindred, and by the faith they owed to God, and beg- 
ged of them that they would not hinder him of this 
honorable mourning at his funeral. So they prom- 
ised him not to transgress his commands."* His or- 
ders, however, through the mercy of the intended exe- 
cutioners, were not carried into effect, which Jose- 
phus says was considered as a great " benefit " by the 
nation. 

It is difficult to determine the northern limits of 
this plain, but it is about thirty miles from north to 
south, and fifteen in width. 

The soil is described by Robinson as of extreme 
fertility, which was, in those ancient times, assisted 
by large and copious fountains, most of which still 
remain. About four miles from the Jordan is the 
fountain called now Ain Hagila, three and a half feet 
deep and of purest water, sending forth a stream 
which waters the whole plain below. f To the north- 
west of this, and also in the plain, is Ain es Sultan, 
bursting forth from the foot of a group of mounds which 
probably designate the site of the Jericho of Joshua's 
time, which seems after its destruction at that period 
never to have been rebuilt. This gives a supply of 
sweet water " which runs off through the plain in a 
stream twenty feet wide, and from eighteen inches to 
two feet deep, and afterwards divides into many little 
yivulets,"J used for irrigation : and, three miles north- 
west from this, is the still larger fountain of Duk, with 
a stream sufficient in volume to have formerly turned 

° Jos. Antq. xvii, 6, § 5. f Robinson. 

% Durbin's Observations in the E^st. 



286 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

mills, ruin? of which arc now on its banks.- In ad- 
dition to this, there have been lately discovered por- 
tions of an immense reservoir, formed by damming up 
the waters of a valley (Wady Kelt) having its outlet 
into the plain on its western side, near the opening of 
which valley is supposed to have stood the Jericho of 
our Saviour's time.t Of the numerous artificial chan- 
nels, elaborately constructed for distribution of all 
these waters, there are still extensive remains. 

Bordering northwardly on the Wady Kelt, and just 
over this supposed site of the ancient city, is the Mount 
Quarantana. standing out, quite distinct from all the 
other bare hills, which, by their semi-circular sweep to- 
wards the west make room for this plain. 

To a person standing on the plain, in the morning, 
and looking southwardly, a heavy fog in that direction 
usually shuts out all objects from the sight ; but, as 
the sun gets higher in the sky, the mists roll heavily 
away, and that strange phenomenon, the Dead Sea. 
lies all exposed. The Jordan pours its waters into 
this sea, and there they are lost : there is no outlet to 
it, no life in it : every living thing that enters it dies : 
the wind sometimes ruffles the water, but the sullen, 
lead-like waves fall without any glad murmur upon the 
shore, and the surface soon subsides again to its dull 
appearance as of some immovable molten substance. 
When earthquakes shake the country around, there 
come up from the deptji of this sea huge masses of as- 
phaltum which float towards the shore, as if they might 
be dark messages of woe from the cities sunk beneath. 
Fruits growing by this sea, though fair to the eye. are 
found, when bitten into, to be composed of a film, for 
5 Robinson. f Ibid. 



Jericho; 287 

the exterior, inside of which is only dust. An adven- 
turous traveller, some years ago, launched a boat upon 
this sea, determined on explorations : he was found, 
a few days afterwards, on its banks, gasping and ex- 
hausted ; was taken to Jerusalem, but scarcely lived 
to reach the city ; the memory of what he saw perish- 
ing also with him. A party of our own countrymen, 
afterwards, made the attempt, and lived through it : 
but one, the bravest and the best, came from it droop- 
ing and sick, and died immediately afterwards at Bey- 
rut, in a vain attempt to reach his home. — Near the 
southern end of the sea, the awe-struck visitors to its 
shores will find a hill entirely of salt ; and will think 
of the strange circumstance attending Lot's family in 
the destruction which once came over this place. 

The climate of the plain of Jericho is, in summer, 
insufferably hot, made more trying by a sight of the 
ice-clad peaks of Hermon looming up in the clear at- 
mosphere, and distinctly visible, although 100 miles 
to the north. East of the Jordan, at this spot, is a 
plain about three miles wide, immediately beyond 
which rises the vast range of Mount Nebo ; and both 
that mountain, and the plain between it and the river, 
had associations of absorbing interest in the Jewish 
mind. For, over this range, the immense hosts of 
their forefathers had poured down, and there on that 
plain they had rested, — after their journey from the 
place of bondage, their wanderings of forty years 
concluded now ; and, on that high, sky-line of Nebo, 
Moses had stood, forbidden by the Almighty to go 
further ; and there he had taken his view of the 
Promised Land. How attentively had he gazed over 
the whole region ; his vision extending to the Medi- 



288 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

terranean, whose l learning wj ters were f illy in sight ; 
to the sands of Arabia, spread out far to the south ; to 
the snowy Hcrmon on the north : — "between them a 
fair, pleasant country, — but which he was not to enter. 

This great leader and lawgiver — one of those men 
mentally and morally of colossal proportions, whom 
earth but rarely produces, he, who had spoken with 
God on Sinai, was forbidden to lead them further ; 
and, for an incident, which must have risen up in the 
Jewish memory at this time of the ministry of Christ 
with peculiar force. One rash word, spoken in anger, 
had caused this exclusion of Moses from the promised 
possession ; and this great range of Nebo, the barrier 
which he might not pass, was forever, to the Jewish 
mind a remembrancer of God's determination that no 
human being should ever dare to invade any divine 
right. 

On one occasion during that long journey through 
the wilderness of Arabia, the people had been mur- 
muring for water ; and Moses and Aaron were told 
by Jehovah to strike with their rod a certain rock, 
and that the water then would flow. They proceeded 
to the act, but gave not God the glory. " Hear, now, 
ye rebels ; must we fetch you water out of this rock ? 
* * And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, 
Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the 
eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not 
bring this congregation into the land which I have 
promised them.'''* Aaron was buried, during the 
long journey, on Mount ITor ; and here, on Nebo, the 
steps of Moses were staved ; and there he died and 
was buried ; and that lofiv mountain' ran fire before 

Numbers xx, 10-12. 



Jericho. 2S9 

Jericho, so strangely like an even wall or barrier 
built far up into the sky — told, and to the last will 
tell, of God's isolation in his Divine majesty and 
power. No man dare ever say We before him in 
that greatness of his glory, or in the exercise of aught 
even of his communicated power. Yet here was one. 
He had just said, " I and my Father are one. 57 He had 
repeatedly asserted prerogatives belonging only to 
God : the power to forgive sins ; the supreme seat in 
the great judgment to come, when all the world would 
be gathered before him, and he be seated in the glory, 
and power, and dominion belonging to Jehovahc 
When charged with making himself equal with God, 
he had not denied it ; and he wa3 at this time at the 
Jordan, on his way to Jerusalem t where his entry into 
the city would be a triumphal one, and where the im- 
mense crowd attending and meeting him on the way 
would shout to him " Hosanna," that is, " Save, Lord, 
we beseech thee f t£ Hosanna in the highest ;" an in- 
vocation given only to God, but which was there to 
be allowed to Jesus without reproof or check. 

And even h*re in Jericho, with ISTebo looking down 
upon him, would be performed by him one of the 
greatest of those miraculous acts, to which he was 
always appealing as confirmation of the justness of 
his claims. God alone can perform a miracle. That 
is, only He who has established nature's laws as irre- 
vocable can reverse them ; and here now, by that spot 
which Moses could not pass, because he had, on one 
occasion, not sanctified God, here God was going to 
establish, by his own act, the claims of him always as- 
serting equality with God. 



290 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 
CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE MESSIAH AT JERICHO : BLIND MEN HEALED. 

The Messiah was now on his way once more towards 
Jerusalem. His disciples, on a former occasion, when 
he was about to go to Bethany in order to restore 
Lazarus, and had declared to them his intention of 
going into Judea, had said, in alarm, " Master, the 
Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou 
thither again ?"* That subsequent miracle at Bethany 
had produced in the rulers a more deliberate and de- 
termined purpose to put him to death ;f and now, 
when he indicated his intention of proceeding to Je- 
rusalem, his followers showed both amazement and 
fear.J Their apprehensions, as they followed him 
from Perea, took a more gloomy cast from his own 
words on the way ; for he began here to repeat 
what he had before intimated of the closing scenes of 
his ministry, only more definitely and more clearly, 
and with a declaration that these were near at 
hand. " Behold, we go up to Jerusalem ; and the 
Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, 
and unto the Scribes ; and they shall condemn him 
to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles ; and 
they shall mock him, and scourge him, and spit upon 
him, and shall kill him • and the third day he shall 
rise again." 

The journey, therefore, along the roads of Perea, 

9 John xi, 8. f ib «> verse 53 - X Mark x - 32 - 



The Messiah at Jericho. — Bartimeus. 291 

was a gloomy one. Dim as were the apprehensions 
of his disciples respecting the nature of his kingdom, 
they still understood language so unmistakable as 
this ; and saw that they were about to lose him, who 
had so long been their leader, and teacher, and their 
constant friend. Much there had been about him 
which they had tried in vain to comprehend ; but his 
kindness to them, even among the strange enigmas of 
his ministry, that had so much, puzzled them, had 
been uniform ; and, even when he had observed occa- 
sion to reprove them, it had been done with such gen- 
tleness as to strengthen their attachment and love. 
One exception there was in this feeling of affection to- 
wards him, but that was not yet made clearly manifest. 
In- following him, they had often been thrown into 
the society of opposers ; and sometimes they had 
been made to feel the secret force of hostility when 
people were backward in manifesting it towards him- 
self. Questions innumerable concerning him had 
been propounded to them, often such as they were 
unable to answer, frequently on subjects puzzling to 
their own minds. They were Jews still, only half 
enlightened by all his teachings ; for the Jewish 
mind seemed to need a miracle to break through the 
old incrustations which enveloped it ; but their feel- 
ings were truer than their intellects, and in their 
hearts they had appreciated that grandeur in the 
character of Christ, — that true greatness which could 
afford to be humble ; the wonderful power, not in his 
teachings only, and his miracles, but in his gentleness 
and love to all, and especially to themselves. 
. Respecting his kingdom, promised by the Baptist, 
sometimes alluded to by himself, they had heard many 



292 Life-scenes prom the Four Gospels. 

disputations among his friends and enemies, and in 
these they had often shared. Their interest in this 
subject was strong and personal. Ambition had its 
power over their hearts'; and, wen during this sad 
journeying towards what their Master had declared 
would end presently in sufferings, and shame, and an 
ignominious death, James and John, aided by their 
mother, preferred a request, that they might have 
the preference (sit next to him) in his glory, respect- 
ing which, however, their ideas must have been very 
indistinct. 

11 Are ye able," he asked,* " to drink of the cup that 
I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism 
that I am baptized with ?" 

11 We are able." 

" Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized 
with the baptism that I am baptized with : but to sit 
on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give, 
but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared 
of my Father.'' 

The ten heard of the request, and were indignant, 
and he took the occasion to enjoin humility and mu- 
tual kindness on all : — 

11 Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be 
your servant : even as the Son of man came not to be 
ministered unto, but to minister-, and to give his life 
a ransom for many." 

No wonder that, amid all their darkness of intel- 
lect and selfishness of nature, their Divine Master. 
was greatly admired a.nd loved ! 

They crossed the Joydan, now for the last time 
with him ; and entered upon the garden-like plain of 
Jericho, which preseuted, at every step, scenes of 



The Messiah at Jericho. — Baiitimeus. 293 

busy life. If anything could win an individual off 
from sad and disturbing thoughts, it might have been 
found in the sights now around them ; where the riv- 
ulets, led carefully from so many fountains, gurgled 
by the road-side ; or, crossing the path, were lost 
amid the profuse vegetation which they aided in this 
most prolific soil ; where fruits and flowers constantly 
greeted the eye ; and where birds were filling the 
air with their melody. The labor of the husbandman 
was here abundantly rewarded ; and a profitable 
trade existed between this favored region of gums 
and palms, and other parts of the country ; and also 
with foreign nations, among which, even at their 
courts, the balsams of Jericho were sought. 

The business of a tax-gatherer here, was an unusu- 
ally profitable one ; but here, as elsewhere, odious to 
the Jews. A man in that office might be thoroughly 
honest, and even far more than usually benevolent ; 
but he would still be looked upon with suspicion and 
dislike. He wore the Roman badge of servitude, and 
was connected with a class disreputable for extortions 
and overreaching ; and the wealthier a publican 
might be, with the more suspicion he would naturally 
be regarded. Zaccheus, the chief of these tax-gath- 
erers at Jericho, was a man of the widest and largest 
charity, and of strictest probity also ; for, while the 
Jewish law required restitution two-fold in case of 
wrong-dealing, he gave back four-fold to any one 
whom he might unwittingly have injured. Yet he 
was u a sinner ? ; in the estimation of the people here, 
and was so branded : his occupation alone was a suf- 
ficient cause for condemnation in their eyes. 

He had heard of Christ : and there was very much 



294: Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

in these reports, not only to awaken curiosity, but to 
enlist his feelings of affection ; — for they spoke of the 
Messiah's wide benevolence, his kindness, his gentle- 
ness to all, mixed yet with power. He had never 
spurned any one seeking help : he had shown him- 
self the friend of the humble and the slighted by the 
world ; publicans themselves had gathered around 
him, and had not been repelled.' When charged with 
eating with such, and with sinners, he had said that 
he came not to call the righteous but sinners to re- 
pentence. The heart of this man had warmed to- 
wards Christ": — and now this great and wonderful 
being was there in Jericho. But he, Zaccheus, re- 
pelled by the citizens, and taunted with sharp epi- 
thets, dare not thrust himself forward among that 
throng, which now, as the Messiah advanced along 
the highway, was continually growing more and 
more dense ; and, being a small man, there seemed 
to be no probability of his even getting a sight of 
him whom his heart was already prepared to rever- 
ence. But there is a tree* in that country with 
branches near to the ground ; and, one of these being 
just in advance, he hastened to it, and drew himself 
up till he could see over the heads of the advancing 
throngs. 

They came on : and. now, opposite to him, was that 
face he had so longed to see ; that great being, of 
whose power and benevolence and divine wisdom he 
had heard so much. — But what was his astonishment 
when he found the eyes of the Messiah turned atten- 

° The Syrian Sycamore; entirely different from ours. See a 
drawing of it in " The Land and the Book," vol. i, p. 23: 



The Messiah at Jericho.— Bartimeus. 295 

tively upon him, as if in recognition ; and to hear 
himself addressed — 

" Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for to-day 
I must abide at thy house/'' 

If the tax-gatherer was astonished, equally so were 
the multitudes : and while the former hurried down, 
and joyfully accompanied the Messiah, a displeased 
murmur went among the people — " that he had gone 
to be guest with a man that is a sinner." They could 
not understand it : — and self-invited too ! " Was he 
ignorant of the man's occupation " — thus the murmurs 
ran among the crowd — " or was this done purposely to 
give an open defiance to all their prejudices and feel- 
ings of caste ; or was it done in contempt of them- 
selves?" Some turned away, in disgust : others fol- 
lowed to the door, curiosity still strongest in their 
minds : all were displeased. 

In the meantime, the two, followed by the disciples, 
had entered the tax-gatherer's house. — A. stir and 
commotion within the dwelling at such an unexpected 
Presence : wondering looks fixed intently on that 
face of benignity and kindness ; peering eyes outside 
trying to have cognizance of what was going on : — 
such was the scene, as Zaccheus, standing before the 
Messiah, said, in a sort of defence of himself from 
what, he knew, was the general impression respecting 
his business and life — 

1 Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the 
poor : and if I have taken anything from any man 
wrongfully, I restore him fourfold." 

'■ This day is salvation come unto this house," — 
was the answer, " forasmuch as he also is a son of 



296 LlFE-SCENES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

Abraham. For the Son of man lias come to seek 
and to save that which was lost." 

But through all this sceue in the receiver-general's 
house, and doubtless throughout the city also, there 
were rumors and whisperings foreign to the scene it- 
self, greatly exciting the people wherever they were 
heard. These were, " That the kingdom of God should 
immediately appear."* The origin of the rumor was, 
doubtless, in a distorted report of the Messiah's re- 
cent declaration respecting his going up to Jerusalem. 
He was known to be on his way to that city. Some- 
thing decisive it was believed, from his own words, 
was then to ensue. He had spoken of his .death as to 
occur there, but also of his rising again. What could 
this last mean — they supposed — but the assumption of 
that earthly power and gloiy so long awaiting the 
Messiah, — prophesied of for so long a time ? We shall 
see, in a few days, how strong was the under-current 
in his favor among all the multitudes, and how quickly 
it could bear them into open demonstrations in his fa- 
vor. His fame had spread throughout the nation. 
People felt him to be great. This feeling of his great- 
ness was that which led the Pharisees, after he had 
denounced them, to be so inveterate and so deadly in 
their hostility. A common man they could have dis- 
regarded. All felt that Christ was very far above 
that. His very humility of appearance gave to the 
mightiness of power evident in him, a stronger relief : 
his very gentleness and kindness made more striking 
the grandeur of character that sat so majestically, and, 
with this, so naturally on him, in all that he did and 
said. The Pharisees hated him, because he had all 

Luke xix, 2. 



The Messiah at Jericho. -- Baiiti.meus. 297 

tins force, this grandeur, this wonderful Presence, 
which no humility in appearance or in life could annul 
or conceal ; — which his humility only made more 
prominent and more striking : he was himself the 
'truest exemplification of his doctrine, " The first shall 
be last ) the last shall be first." 

So the Pharisees hated and feared him. He had 
denounced their hypocrisy and their abrogation of 
God's law by (heir traditions. He was carrying the 
hearts of the people away from them, and they felt 
that their power was on the wane. The multitudes, 
although often murmuring at Christ's words or ac- 
tions, as in this recent one of going to be a guest with 
Zaccheus, still returned to him with new fealty and 
affection ; for their hearts responded to his greatness 
without assumption, his force without harshness, his 
gentleness and kindness to every one. 

He spent the Sabbath at Jericho. On his leaving 
the city, vast multitudes attended him ; for, in addi- 
tion to the usual curiosity, this new rumor of the 
mighty revolution soon to be — the new kingdom — 
was filling men's minds, and occupying their tongues. 
Advancing onward, they had reached the edge of the 
city, the great crowd causing a bustle as they pressed 
around him ; when, above all their noises, rose sud- 
denly a distinct and most earnest cry, — 

" Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me I" 

It ceased for a moment or two ; and over, in the 
direction from which it had come were now heard 
angry objurgations, efforts to stifle the cry ; but, im- 
mediately the voice rose louder than before, li Jesus, 
thou Son of David, have mercy on me !" 

It was from a beggar, Bartimeus by name, a blind 
13* " 



298 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

man sitting by the road-sicle, that the cry had come. 
The sounds of an unusual crowd had fallen on his 
ear, as he sat there in his darkness ; the light of 
broad da}' quenched to his sightless balls. — The multi- 
tude increased, and were excitedly talking as of some- 
thing unusual on the road. He stopped his own pe- 
titions for alms to inquire what it meant ; and was 
told that " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." What 
a thrill shot through the blind man ! Jesus there I 
He raised the cry. 

It was offensive, however, to many of the crowd ; 
for Son of David was one of the titles which, in all 
Jewish belief, was to be applied to the Messiah ; and 
unbelievers quickly threw in their angry commands 
to be silent : enraged men crowded about him ; in- 
dignant, sharp tones and harsh words rung in his 
ear ; but, with (a blind man's quick instincts, he un- 
derstood, at once, both them and his only hope ; and 
he cried out only the louder, in that cry of his ear- 
nest faith. 

— Presently the angry men about him were pushed 
aside, and a friendly voice said, 

" Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth for thee." 
Jesus had stopped, when the cry reached his ear ; 
and had directed that he should be brought to him. 
The blind man, dropping his outer garment in the 
haste, was led — how he hurried those leading him, 
they seemed to be so slow ! — and now he felt that he 
stood before the Messiah. The colloquy was too 
earnest to be other than brief. 

" What wilt thou that I should do unto thee ?" 

" Lord, that I might receive my sight!" 

11 Go thy way : thy faith hath made thee whole." 



The Messiah at Jericho. — Bartimeus. 299 

Light ! yes. there was light poured into those eye- 
balls : a world of faces flashed upon him, all with 
such intensified and startled looks ; — all but one, 
and on that calmness and benevolence ruled ; that 
gentle face of Him blessing, even in his very look, 
them who had faith for the blessing. Him he saw, 
and a loud cry of gratitude, and praise, and of glori- 
fying God burst out ; not from the healed man only, 
but from all the company around. They had gazed 
upon him as he had been led up ; — saw his eager face ; 
saw his hurried, agitated manner : saw his sightless 
eyeballs, showing that there was an utter blank 
there ; heard the colloquy : and, gazing as if their 
whole souls were in their intensified look, saw these 
balls take clearness and expression of intelligence ; 
saw the astonishment and joy in the man's face ; and 
involuntarily they burst out, too, in loud glorifyings 
to God. 

The restored man joined them most gladly in fol- 
lowing Christ.* 

Mark x, 46-52 ; Luke xviii, 35-43 ; Matt, xx, 30-34. Matthew 
ppeaks of two as being healed. It is probable that Bartimeus was 
the more noted of the two ; and it is a maxim among critics qui 
plura narrai pauciora complectltur : qui pauciora memorat plura non 
ncgat ; he who describes the larger number embraces in it the fewer : he 
who notices the fewer, does not deny the larger. A similar case occurs 
in Matt, viii, 28-31 ; Mark v, 1-21, and Luke viii, 26-40. 



300 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 



CHAPTER XXXIL 



JERUSALEM. 



The interest of this history now concentrates afc 
Jerusalem ; and the events which transpired there 
make it necessary to give a detailed description of 
the city itself. Jerusalem was unique, picturesque 
in its appearance, and, in some portions of it, grand ; 
a place well worthy of our minute attention, even 
apart from the sacred associations which it must 
always have in our minds. 

The reader will imagine a valley running nearly 
north and south, (more accurately S. 5° W.) — the 
valley of Jehoshaphat, at the bottom of which, in the; 
wet season, flowed the brook Kedron ; it was a dry 
water-course in the summer months. On the west 
side of this valley, we reach, by a steep ascent, at the 
height of 190 feet, the present surface of Moriah, 
which is 318 yards across. This has, for its western 
boundary, the valley of Tyropeon (also formerly the 
valley of Cheesemongers,) about half the depth of 
that of Jehoshaphat, and 117 yards in width.. Cross- 
ing this valley westwardly, and again ascending to 
about the height of Moriah, we find ourselves on 
Mount Zion, " beautiful for situation, the joy of the 
whole earth. "* This mountain (or rather hill) is 1020 
yards across and three- fifths of a mile in length. On 

* Fs. xlviii, 1. 



Jerusalem. 301 

the west and south of it passes the valley of Hinnom, 
shallow at first, but deepening as it goes southward, 
till at the south-west bend of Zion, it has a depth of 
150 ; and finally where, after curving around Zion on 
the south and then taking an easterly course, it 
unites with the valley of Jehoshaphat, it has a depth 
of 300 feet. The Tyropeon, nearly at the point of 
junction, opens into both, and has in it, at its opening, 
the Pool of Siloam, placed by Milton (by poetic 
license) though half a mile distant, " fast by the ora- 
cles of God." Our imaginary journey, as the reader 
perceives, was from east to west ; it passed just by 
the southern edge of the temple enclosure, which en- 
closure was to the northeast of Zion, a high stone 
bridge across the Tyropeon uniting the two. Some 
remains of this bridge, at its eastern end, yet exist, 
forming still a portion of an arch, and Robinson, on 
measuring some of its stones found them twenty and 
a half to twenty -four and a half feet in length ; they 
are ornamented on their front with the raised pannel 
common to all that remains of the larger structures 
in Jerusalem. The portion of Moriah south of the 
temple enclosure sunk rapidly into a broken and 
rocky surface, and was probably occupied by gar- 
dens in the ancient times. 

The city wall, on the west and south, kept along 
the edge of the almost precipitous descent to the val- 
ley of Hinnom, until the Tyropeon was reached, when, 
stretching across this, and then over the low southern 
portion of Moriah, it skirted the valley of Jehosha- 
phat till it reached the southeastern angle of the 
great wall supporting the temple platform.; On the 
north side of Zion the wall also skirted the edge of 



302 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

the mountain, there on the verge of a descent of thirty 
cubits,'" and finally crossed the Tyropeon to the 
western wall of the temple enclosure. 

In the course of time, a larger space was needed for 
the city ; and a hill, called Acra, closely adjoining 
Zion on the north, and like that also " surrrounded by 
deep valleys,"! was also enclosed by a wall carried 
along on the edge of its precipices, except where this 
crossed the lower ground to be united with the wall 
of Zion, at a gate called Gennath : on the east, this 
wall of Area joined the tower of Antonia, situated at 
the northwest angle of the temple enclosure. 

The city, however, grew finally even beyond Acra, 
and a large space of ground, north and east of that 
hill, reaching to the valley of Jehoshaphat, was cov- 
ered with houses ; but this, called Bezetha, was not in- 
closed, in our Saviour's time, the wall afterwards 
bounding it on three sides, having been built by 
Agrippa at a period shortly subsequent to the cruci- 
fixion, i 

Zion, Moriah, and Area, although called mountains, 
in historical descriptions, did not rise above the gen- 
eral level of the country adjacent, and could be termed 
such only in consequence of being isolated by the sur- 
rounding valleys : but all this region had a considera- 
ble elevation above the Mediterranean, Zion being 
2,200 feet and the Mount of Olives 2,396 above the 
level of that sea. The latter mountain rose eastwardly 
from the brook Kedron by very rapid ascents ; and, 
from its summit commanded, a full view of the city 
and temple grounds, and of a large extent of country 
in every direction. Eastwardly, the view from it takes 
* Jos. Bell, v, 4, § 4. f lb. v. § 1. 



Jerusalem. 303 

in the bed of the Jordan and northern portion of the 
Dead Sea. 

Let a spectator be supposed, then, in those ancient 
times to be seated on the Mount of Olives, and gazing 
down over Jerusalem. He would perceive that the 
general level of the city inclined to the* eastward ; and 
that every object was thus brought distinctly into 
view. The whole was like a map at his feet. Promi- 
nent over all, as well as nearest to him, would be the 
' Mountain of the House," that huge mass of masonry, 
composed of large stones with panneled faces, and ris- 
ing to a height that overtopped every thing else, as if 
jealous respecting its pre-eminence. In fact, the sum- 
mit of Acra, which was originally higher, had been 
cut down in order that " the temple might be super- 
ior- to it."* From his elevation on the Mount of 
Olives, he would be able to look over the ramparts of 
this outer wall of the temple enclosure ; and to see 
within it the long cloisters with their marble columns 
in triple or quadruple rows, and the great marble- 
paved court : he would see, then, rising on this plat- 
form, the more sacred courts reached by great ranges 
of marble steps, and by huge doors glittering with 
gold and silver ; and finally the temple itself, its 
front 100 cubits wide and as many in height, " covered 
all over with plates of gold." The great altar would 
be sending up the smoke from its sacrifices ; and, even 
at his elevation, he might hear the chanting from the 
many voices of worshipers, or the trumpets and other 
instruments sounded from the steps of the temple by 
the altar. 

Then, below, and where stretched that high stone 
* Jos. Bel. v, 4, § 1. lb. v, 6, § 6. 



304 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

bridge connecting Moriah with Zion, would be multi- 
tudes passing between the temple and the city. 

The picturesque outline of the city walls would 
next, perhaps, attract the notice of the spectator; for' 
as they were erected mostly on the edges of the preci- 
pices, their battlemented outline, and the numerous 
towers built to strengthen them, would all stand dis- 
tinctly out before his eye. Some of these towers had 
a singular combination of solidity below, with an 
airy and delicate architecure above. The solid im- 
penetrable substructure of one of them, Hippicus, at 
the northwest corner of Zion, still remains, the raised 
pannels on its stones giving a good architectural effect 
to the solid unbroken wall. Just eastward of Hippi- 
cus, and forming part of the defences at the northern 
end of Zion, were two other principal towers, one of 
which we will allow Josephus to describe : " The 
second tower which he [Herod the Great] named 
from his brother Phasaelus, had its breadth and its 
height equal, each of them forty cubits ; over which 
was its solid height of forty cubits ; over which a 
cloister went round about, whose height was ten 
cubits, and it was covered from enemies by breast- 
works and bulwarks. There was also built over 
that cloister another tower, parted into magnificent 
rooms, and a place for bathing ; so that this tower 
wanted nothing that might make it appear to be a 
royal palace. It was also adorned with battlements 
and turrets, more than was the foregoing ; and the 
entire altitude was about ninety cubits."- It will be 
remembered that it stood on the edge of a descent 
of thirty cubits. Hippicus was smaller, but similarly 
© Jos. Bel. v, 4, § 3. 



Jerusalem. 305 

ornamented ; and just eastward of Phasaelus, and in 
the same wall, was the tower Mariamne, named after 
Herod's late wife, smaller also than the latter, but 
" its upper buildings were more magnificent and had 
greater variety than the other towers had." " Now, 
as these towers," says Josephus, " were tall, they ap- 
peared taller by the place on which they stood ; for 
that very old wall wherein they were, was built on a 
high hill, and was itself a kind of elevation that was 
still thirty cubits taller, over which the towers were 
situated, and thereby were made much higher to ap- 
pearance." The other towers in the line of walls 
were inferior in ornament, but " the niceness of the 
joints and the beauty of the stones were in no way 
inferior to those of the holy house itself." These 
towers were twenty cubits wide, and as many in 
height ; and above this solid substructure were 
rooms i; of great magnificence," and cisterns for rain- 
water : Acra had forty and Zion sixty of such towers 
attached to their walls. " The whole compass of the 
city [including Bezetha] was thirty-three furlongs," or 
about four miles and a quarter of our measure ; the di- 
mensions, not large ; but we must remember that the 
cities of that region are compactly built, the streets 
being frequently only four or five feet in width. 

The palace of Herod the Great and its grounds 
were among the most striking features of the city ; 
and for these, lest any other description may seem 
extravagant, we will again resort to Josephus. He 
had just been describing the towers Mariamne and 
Phasaelus in the northern wall of Zion, and he adds : 
" Now as these towers were themselves on the north 
side of the wall, the king had a palace inwardly 



30G Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

thereto adjoined, which exceeds all my ability to 
describe it : for it was so curious as to want no cost 
or skill in its construction, but was entirely walled 
about to the height of thirty cubits, and was adorned 
with towers at equal distances, and with large bed- 
chambers, that would contain beds for a hundred 
guests a-piece, in which the variety of the stones is 
not to be expressed : for a large quantity of those 
that were rare of the kind was collected together. 
Their roofs were also wonderful, both for the length 
of the beams and the splendor of their ornaments. 
The number of the rooms was also very great, and 
the variety of the figures that were about them was 
prodigious ; their furniture was complete, and. the 
greatest part of the vessels that were put in them 
was of silver and gold. There were, besides, many 
porticos, one beyond another, round about, and in 
each of these porticos curious pillars ; yet were all 
the courts that were exposed, to the air everywhere 
green. There were moreover several groves of trees, 
and long walks throughout them, with deep canals, 
and cisterns, that in several parts were filled with 
brazen statues, through which the water ran."* . 

There was another palace on Acra, of which, how- 
ever, w'e have no definite account. The castle of 
Antonia, joined to the northwest angle of the temple » 
was also a conspicuous object, both on account of its 
situation, with one turret overtopping the temple pre- 
cincts and looking directly down into its courts, and 
also for its vastness and magnificence ; ".for the in- 
ward parts had the largeness and form of a palace, it 
being parted into all kinds of rooms and other con- 
's Jos. Bel. 4, v, § 4. 



Jerusalem. 307 

veniehces, with a court, and places for bathing, and 
broad spaces for camps : insomuch that, by having 
all conveniences that cities wanted, it might seem to 
be composed of several cities, but by its magnificence 
it seemed a palace ; and as the entire str ucture re- 
sembled that of a tower, it contained also four other 
distinct towers at its four corners ; whereof the others 
were but fifty tcubits high ; whereas that which lay 
upon the southeast corner, was seventy cubits high? 
that from thence the whole temple might be viewed."* 
The walls and towers were constructed with the 
white limestone, (Josephus calls it white marble,) of 
that region ; a large portion of which was probably 
taken from beneath the city itself. Some curious 
persons, lately observing a small hole just outside the 
present northern city wall not unlike a burrow in the 
banks of a rabbit warren, enlarged it a little ; and 
they presently slid down into a subterranean cham- 
ber, about seven hundred feet long from north to 
south, and from three to four hundred feet in width, 
the height from ten to fifty feet. It is all cut in 
the solid rock, with rude pillars at intervals to sup- 
port the roof. A recent explorer says, " It was evi- 
dently a quarry, and I could see that the stones were 
all hewn and polished on the spot. On every side 
were immense piles of drippings, still bearing, like the 
rocky walls, the marks of the chisel. At the extreme 
end several huge blocks remain, not completely dis- 
lodged. From hence down to Moriah is an easy 
slope, along which they could easily have been roll- 
ed ;" and the floor of the chamber is descending, and 
in several places is hewn smooth. This quarry seems 

"'■•• Jos. Bell. y. 5, §8., 



SOS Life-scenes from the Four. Gospels. 

to have been under Acra. Doubtless there are many 
chambers and passages under Jerusalem, vet un- 
known. 

The grounds beyond the walls were covered over 
with gardens, among the enclosures of which the Ro- 
man soldiers, in the first assaults by Titus, became en- 
tangled, and suffered bloody defeats. On the south 
of the city were the ;; king's gardens f and where the 
valleys of Hinnoni and Jehoshaphat unite is still the 
well called after Nehemiah. which often overflows 
and refreshes the flat surface adjoining. The broken 
ground forming the southern end of the sacred Mo- 
riah, appears also to have been given up to shrub- 
bery and trees. The Mount of Olives is still remark- 
able for the number of olive trees scattered over its 
slopes. 

Many a person has stayed his steps on the heights 
of this latter mountain, to gaze long on that scene be- 
low ; — on the city, like a hive of human beings, 
many of its common structures, doubtless, giving 
evidence of the wealth which the whole world poured 
toward Jerusalem : — on the battleinented walls and 
the numerous towers with their turrets, all, from 
their position, brought into strong relief :— on the 
castles and palaces, and the long, high bridge be- 
tween Moriah and Zion, with its numerous passen- 
gers in full view ; — on the beautiful green frame work 
of gardens surrounding the city ; — and especially on 
the Mountain of the House, lifting its crowning 
splendor of the temple high in the air : the glitter of 
its gold partly hid by the smoke from the sacrificial 
altar curling upward, while were heard the sounds 
from the worshipers there, now sinking into low 



The Triumphal Entry. 309 

.notes of music, and now rising in the loud hallelujahs 
and filling the air with their melody. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY. 



The Messiah was now on his way to the celebration 
of the Passover festival ; and, in the evening of the day 
in which he cured Bartimeus, as he was leaving Jeri- 
cho, he arrived at Bethany, there to spend the night. 

On the morrow, it quickly became evident that the 
public enthusiasm respecting him was going to break 
through all bounds, and to make a demonstration of 
itself such as had never yet been seen. The rumor, 
" that the kingdom of God should immediately appear" 
was still spreading, and people were wrought up to a 
state of the highest expectancy ; — the excitement all 
the greater in consequence of the vagueness of their 
surmisings, in which both curiosity and imagination 
had the widest scope. He was now in Bethany, where 
he had raised the dead : what could not power such 
as that effect ? Bartimeus and his companion had fol- 
lowed him, full of enthusiasm and ready to testify to 
every one whom they met, what had been done for 
them : many of those around Christ, had themselves 
witnessed this wonderful act. The excited company 
at Bethany was soon increased in consequence of the 
circulation of this new and stirring rumor in Jerusa- 
lem itself, and among the throngs already come up to 



310 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

the festival. For, although it "wanted vet four days- 
to the Passover, large numbers" 5 '' had assembled, some 
of them from distant lands.t Strangers and citizens 
were full of excitement : and the feeling respecting 
Christ, which had been kept hushed through fear of 
the rulers, and had dared to show itself only in whis- 
pers, was now beginning to take an outspoken and de- 
cisive character. " How was this new kingdom to be 
established ?" — The bitter hostility of the rulers to- 
wards him w i as well known : their plots for his death 
were also surmised. His denunciations of the hypocrisy 
of most of them had been public. " Would vengeance 
now overwhelm them, and make clear the way for his 
supremacy V " What would this new kingdom be ?'' 
— We may well imagine what an excitement such sur- 
misings would occasion amid a demonstrative people, 
such as they were ; and, amid it, the contagion of en- 
thusiasm for the Messiah, was every hour more and 
more widely spread. 

He had himself sent two of his disciples, early in 
the morning, to a spot in the neighborhood of Beth- 
any, where they were to find an ass and her colt tied, 
which they were to bring to him. The owner, when 
informed who needed them, gave his immediate con- 
sent. There was an old prophecy by Zechariah. 
whose favorite theme had been the coming of the Mes- 
siah, and whose words were, therefore, greatly, trea- 
sured by the Jews : i: Rejoice greatly, daughter of 
Zion ; shout, daughter of Jerusalem : behold thy 
king cometh unto thee : he is just and having salva- 
tion ; lowly and sitting upon an ass and upon a colt, 
the foal of an ass."| Even his triumphs were not to 

* John xii, 12. f lb. verse 20. % ix, ( J 



The Triumphal Entry. 311 

contribute to human pride. Kings advancing towards 
their capitals in triumphal processions, choose all the 
pomp and circumstauce that can dazzle men's eyes ; 
and all the glory that earth can afford is put in requisi- 
tion, amid which the recipient of honors advances with 
a heart swelling in gratified ambition. What a con- 
trast here, where even the triumph carried with it its 
lessons to pride and pomp; where gentleness ruled; 
and where the emotion most manifest was in tears over 
approaching human woes. 

The principal road from Jericho through Bethany 
to Jerusalem has probably, now, exactly the course 
that it had in those ancient times. The Mount of Ol- 
ives has three principal elevations, and between the 
middle and southern of these a footpath crosses, forming 
a direct but a somewhat steep and difficult way. The 
caravan road ascends slantingly, and turns over the 
southern end of the mountain, though still at a consid- 
erable elevation, and then slants downward by a long, 
easy descent to the bridge over the Kedron ; whence 
it passes, by zigzags, up the steep sides of Moriah. 
This latter road was, doubtless, the one chosen on the 
present occasion. At its highest point, the city and 
Mount Moriah burst suddenly upon the view ; and 
Zion having a slight inclination to the eastward, all 
the picturesque beauty as well as grandeur of Jerusa- 
lem is there displayed to the eyes. The slanting de- 
scent thence to the Kedron, is nearly a mile in length ; 
and most of it is in full view from any part of Jeru- 
salem. 

The numbers attending Christ; had multiplied, and 
as they advanced along the roads towards the city 
the excitement constantly increased.' Thev had an 



312 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

indefinable idea that something extraordinary was 
to occur ; — the kingdom of heaven immediately to 
appear ; and the accordance of the present scene 
with their ancient prophecy, — the unusual manner of 
the Messiah's approach to the city, — roused their ex- 
pectations into the strongest enthusiasm. t " Tell ye 
the daughters of Zion, Behold thy king cometh :" and 
truly he was there ! His kingdom mistaken, but the 
mistake adapted only to increase the powerful sensa- 
tion. The enthusiasm presently broke through all 
the bounds that had been imposed by the fear of 
their rulers ; the people from other parts of the 
country being, indeed, less fettered by this than the 
residents in Jerusalem. These, as they hurried out 
in great numbers to meet the procession, gathered 
up palm branches," such as they were accustomed to 
wave in their Hallels to Jehovah at the Feast of Taber- 
nacles ; and. soon the cry arose, both among those 
preceding and those following the Messiah, "Ho- 
sanna," (that is, "Save, Lord, we beseech thee,") 
i; Hosanna in the highest/ 7 " Blessed is the King that 
cometh in the name of the Lord : peace in heaven 
and glory in the highest." It was as if the temple 
service had been transferred to the heights of Olivet, 
the open mountain serving as God's grandest of sanc- 
tuaries, with spontaneous worship poured out there 
from overflowing hearts. Christ's enemies had quickly 
taken the alarm ; and Pharisees mixing with the 
crowd, cried out to him, ' ; Master, rebuke thy disci- 
ples." But, far from disclaiming this worship paid 
to him as God, he replied, " If they should hold their 

e John xii, 12, 13. 



The Triumphal Entry. 313 

peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Their 
worship received no rebuke. 

This whole scene was in full view from the city, 
and people there turned or gathered in groups to 
gaze with extreme wonder at the sight. Fresh mul- 
titudes were hurrying up the mountain, attracted by 
the flying rumors : the enthusiasm was contagious, and 
all were equally joining in the hosannas. " Blessed, 
is the King that cometh in the name of the Lord," 
was repeated among the cries : and the throngs were 
now cutting branches from the trees, and strewing 
them, as also their garments, in the way* before the 
Messiah, tokens of honor usually shown to eastern 
kings in those days.f 

It had become a triumphal procession ; and the 
shouts of " Hosanna in the highest," " Blessed is the 
kingdom of our Father David that cometh in the 
name of the Lord," u Hosanna to the Son of David," 

* Matt, xxi, 8. 

f Tholuck, in loco. The Targum on Esther, x, 15, says, " when. 
Mordecai went forth from the gate of the king's house, the streets 
were covered with myrtle and the porches with purple. See also 
2 Kings ix, 13. 

The following singular incident is from Robinson's Researches, 
Vol. ii, p. 162: "At that time [just after the rebellion, in 1834, 
against the Egyptian conscription] when some of the inhabitants 
[of Bethlehem] were already imprisoned, and all were in deep dis- , 
tress, Mr. Farran, then English consul at Damascus, was on a visit 
to Jerusalem, and had ridden out with Mr.Nicolayson to Solomon's 
pool. On their return, as they rose the ascent to enter Bethle- 
• hem, hundreds of the people, male and female, met them, implod- 
ing the consul to interfere in their behalf, and afford them his pro- 
tection; and all at once, by a sort of simultaneous movement, 
they ' spread their garments in the way ' before the horses. The 
consul was affected to tears, but har 1 , of course, no power to inter- 
fere." 

14 



311 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

u Save, Lord, we beseech thee," floated over Moriah 
and over Zion ; — a worship, the spontaneity and 
heartiness of which were manifest to every one who 
heard. 

— But suddenly the noises ceased ; and all turned 
to look in new wonder at him, who was the centre 
and the object of the demonstration. 

He was weeping. 

Had they been Pharisees and scribes around him, 
using taunts and threatenings, he could have met 
their insults with unruffled feelings ; but these re- 
joicings of friends and these strong demonstrations 
of affection melted his heart into tenderness, as he 
thought of the doom gathering over the city there 
spread out, and so fair to look upon : and which 
would soon leave scarcely a vestige behind ; its 
people, and the hundreds of thousands who gathered 
there from all countries, after indescribable suffer- 
ings, massacred, or tortured to death, or carried into 
slavery in distant lands. His prescient eye saw the 
Eoman legions encircling the place ; saw the rush 
of combatants ; his ear heard the shouts of rage or 
despair ; he saw dying and dead covering mountain- 
sides and valleys, after the fierce sorties. He saw 
the Roman lines of circumvallation ; and the sicken- 
. ing scenes within them, throughout the city, as fam- 
ine did its horrible work, till even a mother could 
feed on her own child ; saw the madness of sectaries 
among the people, till Jew was murdering Jew, and 
the streets were running with blood, and were cover- 
ed with corpses in the fratricidal combats : — saw, 
finally, the assault, the last struggles of the people, 
not for life, but in the madness of death, as the for- 



The Triumphal Entry. 315 

eign hordes filled the streets and houses ; saw the 
temple on fire, and people throwing themselves by 
hundreds from its battlements to the great depths be- 
low, resistance over — only death now left. 

He was weeping — and the crowds so lately filling 
the air with their joyful cries and their hymns of ho- 
sannas, stood now silent, looking on with curiosity 
and wonder. He said : 

" If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy 
day, the things which belong to thy peace ! but now 
they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall 
come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench 
about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in 
on every side. And shall lay thee even with the ground 
and thy children within thee ; and they shall not 
leave one stone upon another ; because thou know est 
not the times of thy visitation." 

'They heard him with very deep sadness ; but their 
reverence and demonstrations of affection were una- 
bated, as the procession moved on, and so continued 
down the mountain, and across the Kedron, and as 
they ascended by the eastern gate into the corridors 
of the temple. 

The whole city was, by this time, in a state of ex- 
citement ; and people were hurrying about with in- 
quiries, what it meant ? When they found, at last 
that the noises,' — 'the hosannas, and exclamations were 
ascending now from the temple courts, thither streamed 
the vast city population, — Pharisees, Scribes, Rabbis, 
the common multitudes, — all in confusion hastening 
there with the hurried question : 

11 Who is this ?" The crowds there answered : 



316 Life-scenes from the Fouif Gospels. 

" This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee."* 
Immediately some left the crowd, hurrying back to 
their homes. In those homes and alone: the streets 
were the decrepid, the diseased, and the blind : and 
friends hastened now to them, with the thrilling in- 
telligence that Jesus, with his miraculous healing pow- 
ers, was in the temple. What news to them ! With 
outstretched arms, and appealing voices, they begged 
to be carried or led : and, very soon, the throngs about 
Christ were pushed asunder by eager men forcing 
openings amongst their dense masses, carrying the dis- 
eased, or by blind men, with objurgations and entreat- 
ies in the same breath, making their eager way, disre- 
gardful alike of priest, or Eabbi, or commoner ; only 
one thought filling their whole soul — that wild, strange 
hope that they might receive sight and be cured ; — 
their hope forcing every thing aside, so that they might 
be quickly before Christ. 

The throngs yielded readily, when they saw the 
cause ; for the expectation of witnessing miracles, be- 
came immediately as intense almost as was the hope 
of the infirm themselves. The lame were before him : 
they were healed. The blind pressed into his pres- 
ence, and stood there for a moment or two, with 
faces showing the wrought-up feelings within, and 
with their sightless eye-balls so drearily blank and 
sadly disfiguring. But only for a moment : for, at 
the word from Christ, those eye-balls changed ; a 
perceptive power had shot in them : the intensely 
earnest and entreating countenance was suddenly 
brightened with an expression of wildness of delight ; 
the spectators saw how perfect the cure was ; and all 

* Matt, xxi, 10, 11. 



The Triumphal Entry. 317 

mingled with the joyful cry of the relieved men, their 
shouts of praises and of glorifying God. No wonder 
that there rang through all those courts of the tem- 
ple, such spontaneous, heartfelt strains of thanksgiving 
as had never been heard there before ; and could have 
never been known in the formal hymns and ceremonies 
of the priests. No wonder that the hosannas rose up 
louder and louder, shout after shout, as new and still 
more extraordinary cases of curing occurred ; and 
that the children who had crowded there with the 
rest, and are always, in their warm, fresh hearts, 
quick in sympathies with sorrow and joy, and quick 
for open demonstrations, joined readily in the cry, 

" Hosanna to the Son of David : Hosanna to the 
Son of David," which was repeated everywhere, in 
the courts. 

But there were also intensely angry faces among 
the crowds ; and presently men rushed up to the 
Messiah, — chief-priests and scribes they were, — with 
the exclamation : 

" Hearest thou what they say ?" 

Indeed the cry, " Hosanna to the Son of David," 
was a full acknowledgment of his Messiahship ; and 
unchecked as it was by him, it filled up the measure 
of these men's indignation and rage. They had wit- 
nessed the miracles just performed ; but sympathy 
with distress was extinguished by malice, and by see- 
ing how the crowds were carried away by his merci- 
ful deeds. They gnashed their teeth at the hosannas 
so broadly expressive, and broke in with the inquiry 
above : 

" Hearest thou what they say ?"* 
* Matt, xxi, 15, 16. 



31S Life scenes from the Four Gospels. 

" Yea : have ye never read. Out of the mouths of 
babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ?*'•• 

It vras a favorite method with the Messiah to parry 
their malicious assaults with some question which 
they could not answer, or which threw them into con- 
fusion, in which they lost their power to hurt. 

The Pharisees said anions: themselves, as thcv retir- 
ed, discomfited from the scene, 

" Perceive ye that ye prevail nothing ? Behold 
the world is gone after hini/'f 



CHAPTER XXXIT. 

AT THE TEMPLE. — WOES DENOUNCED. 

The Messiah returned that evening to the quiet of 
Bethany, leaving behind him. however, in Jerusalem, 
an agitated people, full of emotions of various kinds. 
The hosannas, long after night had spread its silence 
over the city, seemed to the rulers to be still ringing 
in their ears ; and the scenes on the side of Olivet, 
and in the temple. — the outburst of enthusiasm among 
the populace — the miraculous cures and consequent 
rejoicings were still haunting them, long after they 
had retired to their homes. 

Their chagrin was not allayed the next morning 

by rumors oC fresh occurrences ; namely, that Christ 

was again in the temple, and was a second time 

cleansing it of the abominations, which, notwithstand- 

° Ps. viii, 2. j John xii, 19. 



At the .Temple. — "Woes Denounced. 319 

ing liis former driving out of the Colbonists and the 
sellers of oxen and birds, had been renewed in the 
temple courts. " It is written," he said, " My house 
is the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of 
thieves." Many of the people had suffered from the 
haughtiness and extortions of the Colbonists ; and 
were glad now to see severity used upon them, and 
the convictions of all were with him, as regarded the 
desecration of the temple, where chaffering was tak- 
ing the place of prayer, where the lowing of cattle 
was mingled with the sounds of people's devotions, 
and the spirit engendered was that of greedy trade. 

When the place had been cleansed and order re- 
stored, the Messiah proceeded to teach in the clois- 
ters ; the multitudes still retaining the enthusiasm of 
the previous day, and listening with the deepest ear- 
nestness to his doctrines. But, mingling with them, 
were men bent on his destruction, provoked to still 
greater wrath by the events of the morning, and by 
seeing how, in every act, whether of gentleness and 
healing, or of force, he was carrying with him, and 
from these rulers, the affections of the people. They 
" feared him because all the people were astonished 
at his doctrine."* In the evening he returned again 
to Bethany. 

On the next day he came again to the temple, and 
recommenced his teaching, when the chief priests, and 
elders, irritated beyond endurance, made an effort to 
overpower him by an official demand respecting his 
power to teach. 

" By what authority doest thou these things ? and 
who gave thee this authority ?" 

o Mark xi. 15-18. 



320 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

Their object was, doubtless, to bring him into dis- 
credit with the people by making it evident that he 
had received no scholastic training* and had no di- 
ploma from the Rabbis : but it was defeated in a very 
simple manner. Indeed, the simplicity of means by 
which, often, their chicanery was foiled, is one of the 
most striking things in his encounters with these men. 
He said : 

" I will also ask you one thing ; and answer me. 
The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of man ?" 
— They saw the drift of the question, and hesitated. 
If they should say from heaven, he would ask, why 
then do ye not believe him? " If of earth" — so they- 
murmured to each other, — " then the people will stone 
us : for they be persuaded that John was a prophet." 
They answered : 

" We cannot tell." 

ct Neither will I tell you by what authority I do 
these things."* 

He spoke now in parables ;f and the closing part of 
one of these must have startled that assembly, and put 
in jeopardy even the attachment of the people listening 
so attentively to every word. He often thus startled 
his friends by the utterance of loud and daring truths. 
The words now referred to were, " Therefore say I 
unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from 
you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits 
thereof." 

The Pharisees knew that the application was par- 
ticularly to themselves, and gnashed their teeth with 
impotent rage ; their wish to lay hands on him being 

o Mark xi, 27-33. 

f See Matt, xxi, 28-32 and 33-43; xxii, 1-14. 



At the Temple. — Woes Denounced. 321 

restricted by a fear of the multitude, who, though 
startled, still adhered to him as a* prophet. 

But the malice of these leaders could not be sub- 
dued. They had determined on his destruction, and 
were consulting " that they might put Lazarus also 
to death ; because by reason of him many of the Jews 
went away and believed on Jesus. "* They glared 
like chained ravenous beasts on this scene, where the 
crowds were hanging with rapt attention on the words 
of Christ : and, presently, having failed in the attempt 
to bring him into disrepute by questioning his au- 
thority to teach, they tried a new device in which 
they hoped to entangle him in his speech Uniting 
again in a strange fellowship with their opponents, 
the Herodians, they sent some of their disciples with 
the latter ; and both having made their way up to 
the Messiah, they began in a suspiciously-compli- 
mentary address : 

" Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest 
the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any 
man ; for thou regardest not the persons of men. 
Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou ? Is it lawful 
to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" 

If he should answer in the negative, the Herodians 
were there to accuse him of hostile feeling towards 
the Roman government ; if in the affirmative, he 
must excite the hostility of the Jews, to whom the 
tribute was hateful in its nature, and burdensome 
from its excess. 

He saw their cunning, and the wickedness in their 
apparent compliment that he cared for no man, nor 
regarded the persons of men. 

o Johnxii, 10, 11. 



322 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

" Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ? Show me the 
tribute money.''' 

A penny (a Roman denarius) was brought. 

" Whose is this image and superscription ?" They, 
told him it was Cassar's. 

u Render unto Cassar the things which are Caasar's ; 
and unto God the things that are God's.' 7 

They gained nothing from this attempt ; and 
another was now made by the Sadducees, unbelievers 
in any future state. They came to him propounding 
a certain case, intended to perplex any opponent to 
their doctrine ; and they were answered : and then 
came a lawyer, " tempting him :" 

" Master, which is the great commandment in the 
law ?" He answered : 

" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
This is the first and great commandment. And the 
second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself. On these two commandments hang all 
the law and the prophets." 

He himself became interrogator now. 

" What think ye of Christ ? Whose son is he ?" 

The Pharisees answered, " The son of David ;" and 
some questions on this subject finished the colloquy, 
and the public efforts of his enemies on this day. 

— But it did not finish the excitingscenes in those 
temple courts. It was a mixed assemblage there ; 
the rulers, Scribes and Pharisees ; the disciples ; the 
•vast multitude, which had been increasing every day, 
at Jerusalem, for the Passover, and which had gather- 
ed up here to hear the words of this Wonderful Per. 
son. Ho turned now to these last and to his*disciples, 



At the Temple. --Woes Denounced. 323 

and cautioned them against the Scribes and Phari- 
sees, showing how their precepts were belied by their 
conduct ; and denouncing their hypocrisy and vain- 
gloriousness, their impositions on the people, and 
their assumptions. Of persons wishing to be his own 
followers, he said, 

" But he that is greatest among you shall be your 
servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be 
abased : and he that humblcth himself shall be ex- 
alted/' 

He turned then to the Scribes and Pharisees them- 
selves. His words just spoken had excited the aston" 
ishment of the multitudes ; for they were not accus- 
tomed to hear their religionists spoken of publicly in 
this bold, denunciatory style ; and the leaders them- 
selves had winced repeatedly, as, with many a scowl- 
ing look and many a vow of vengeance, they had 
listened to what they dared not dispute with one 
who seemed to penetrate their hearts, and who knew 
their lives so well. They saw, also, the looks of the 
people, even through the marks of astonishment, 
approving and assenting to what he said ; and wit- 
nessed, with horrified forebodings, the enthusiasm he 
was lighting up in the hearts of the multitudes, who 
were evidently fast sliding away from the Pharisaic 
rule. But there was little time for their observation 
of others ; for he turned now directly to themselves ; 
and their blood curdled and boiled with rage, at 
words which now fell on their ears. 

" Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men ; 
for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them 
that are entering to go in. 



324 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels.. 

" Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence 
make long prayers : therefore ye shall receive the 
greater damnation. 

" Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte : 
and when he is made, ye make him tenfold more the 
child of hell than yourselves. 

" Woe unto you, ye blind guides, who say, Whoso- 
ever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing ; lut 
whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he 
is a debtor. Ye fools and blind. * * * * 

*•' Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
for ye pay tithes of anise and cummin, and have omit- 
ted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, 
and faith : these ought ye to have done, and not to 
have left the others undone. Ye blind guides, which 
strain at a gnat,* and swallow a camel." 

l; Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
for ye make clean the outside of the cup and platter, 
but within ye are full of extortion and excess. * * 

" Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed 
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead 
men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also 
outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye 
are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 

" Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and gar- 
nish the sepulchres of the righteous. * * * Where- 

° In a former page it was noticed that they strained the water 
for drinking, lest they might inadvertently swallow unclean ani- 
mals : the camel was also an unclean animal. 



At the Temple.— Woes Denounced. 325 

fore be ye witness unto yourselves, that ye are the 
children of them that killed the prophets. 

" Fill ye up, then, the measure of your forefathers. 

* Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye 
escape the damnation of hell ?"* * * * 

It was terrible ; and the people stood with silent 
astonishment, and with awe, wondering to hear de- 
nunciations poured out, in this burning, lava-like 
stream, on the sanctimonious-looking men lately so 
lordly and pretensious, now standing mute in self-con- 
viction or in rage. It must have been a strange 
thing, too, to see those features of Christ, usually 
marked with such gentleness, mingled with grandeur, 
now worked up into an expression awful in its power, 
as if the terribleness of the final judgment-seat were 
here being anticipated and exhibited on Moriah's 
temple heights. They gazed with wonder on that 
face, lighted up as they had never seen it before ; 
they trembled at words so terrible ; — the more terri- 
ble because the multitudes felt their justice upon men 
whom their better feelings had long taught them to 
doubt, though fear had kept them in restraint. There 
was a mighty eloquence in the words, a mightier force 
in the oratory itself, and a horror of doom in the 
terrible climax, that held the people in breathless 
wonder, and filled them with awe. If to any one 
now the words seem to be too terrible, we must re- 
member that these were men who, wicked at heart, 
were making the highest claims for sanctity, and 
were exercising the largest power over the nation ; 
giving tone to society, and. character to the country, 
in the eyes of people, both at home and abroad. 

« Matt, xxiii, 13-33. 



326 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

They were, above all, the conservators of that myste- 
rious, terrible, unwritten law, which might be moulded 
into any form ; and, in every form, was claiming a 
power greater than God's own Word. The use it could 
be put to he shows in this address ; but, doubtless, we 
have exhibited to us only a small portion of the abuses 
of which it was the origin. The people had always 
succumbed to these men : it was fit that the nation 
should be aroused, as if by a peal of thunder, and, if 
it were yet possible, should be disenthralled. 

But, presently, the language changed. The speaker 
turned from the woes to a rapid sketch of the mur- 
derous persecutions these men would soon instigate 
and carry out, on " prophets, and wise men, and 
scribes," coming after him ; and to notice the terrific 
visitations gathering over the city, in consequence of 
their iuiquitous rule ; and then he broke out in that 
lamentation over Jerusalem, to which, for pathetic 
force of language, there is not an equal anywhere in 
history. 

" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 
prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, 
how often would I have gathered thy children to- 
gether, even as a hen gather eth her chickens under 
her wings, and ye would not ! Behold your house is 
left unto you desolate. For J say unto you, Ye shall not 
see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that 
cometh in the name of the Lord.' 7 * 

Doubtless it was this lament, which, when these ex- 
citing scenes were all over, and he was preparing, to- 
wards evening, to leave the courts, led the disciples to 
*i Matt, xxiii, 1-39. 



At the Temple.— Woes Denounced. 327 

say, as they pointed to the temple, its " goodly stones 
and gifts/' 

" Master, see what manner of stones and what build- 
ings!" 

They thought, perhaps, that the sacredness of the 
spot, and the costliness of the work and offerings, a 
hearty tribute of the nation to God, might produce an 
exception to the foretold doom : but there was to be 
none. 

" Seest thou these great buildings !'! he answered ; 
"there 'shall not be one stone left upon another, that 
shall not be thrown down."* 

— A quiet evening, after so exciting a day, fell on 
the Messiah and his disciples as they were ascending 
Olivet on their way to Bethany once more : the last 
night — it was to be — which the Master was to spend 
in that house of kind and hospitable friends . 

On the top of the mountain he sat down, for a 
while, by the road-side, over against the temple,t and 
against all that fair scene, of city and country below : 
temple, palaces, battlements, towers, and the great 
hives of human habitations, all distinctly in sight. 
The smoke of the evening sacrifices was ascending 
up. ; the evening sounds of a large city (the sounds 
never noisy, as with us — no rattling of carriages — 
but more gentle,) filled the air ; it was such a quiet, 
and calm, and fair scene, that it might seem as if to 
last forever ; so little there appeared outwardly to 
court danger,' and so much in it all of mild enjoyment 
and repose. 

But within the walls there were fierce and hellish 
passions at work in the hearts of rulers ; and secret- 

« Mark xiii, 1,2. f Mark xiii, 3. 



328 LlFE-SCEXES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

ly. and with silent steps the ruin of Jerusalem was 
now drawing near. 

As the Messiah sat there by the roadside gazing 
down, with eyes in which such anticipations might 
be read, the disciples came to him, and said privately, 

" Master, but when shall these things be ? and 
what sign will there be when these things shall come 
to pass ?" He replied, 

" Take heed, that ye be not deceived ;"* and he 
gave them signs by which they might know of the 
approach of the final catastrophe to Jerusalem ;t by 
observing which afterwards, it was doubtless, that so 
many of the Christians, taking refuge in other cities, 
were then saved. But the scene which he sketched, 
there, to the disciples, of their own future, must have 
been appalling, even with the dimness of comprehen- 
sion, and the mistakes which still affected their minds. 
He said, 

" They shall deliver you up to councils ; and in the 
synagogues ye shall be beaten ; and ye shall be 
brought before rulers and kings for a testimony 
against them. "J " They shall lay their hands on 
you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the syna- 
gogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings 
and rulers for my name's sake." " Ye shall be be- 
trayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, 
and friends, and some of you shall they cause to be 
put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for 
my name's sake. But there shall not a hair of your 
head perish. In patieuce possess ye your souls. v § 

He promised them supernatural help, which at that 

* Luke xxi, 7. f Matt, xviv, 15-28 ; Luke xxi,20-37. 

% Mark xiii, 9. § Luke xxi, 12-19. 



At the Temple.— Woes Denounced. 329 

time., could be but imperfectly understood by them ; 
but he called them to meet dangers, of which they did 
have a clear comprehension : — the hatred of all men, 
betrayals, insults, violent death. 

The world has never yet appreciated the heroism 
of Christianity, perhaps never will appreciate it. 
The milder qualities of that religion, — gentleness, 
peacefulness, and other traits — meekness and for- 
giveness of injuries — considered mean-spirited by the 
world, — are so much oftener dwelt upon in men's 
minds with sensations of shrinking from them, that 
the great, noble heroism of Christianity is unappre- 
ciated. This itself is also not an impressive heroism 
except on peculiar and rare occasions ; for its acts 
lie in in self-conquest deep in our hearts ; in a fixedness 
of endurance which insults cannot shake ; and in a 
preparedness for death itself, in the Master's cause, 
if that should be required. Persecutions to this last 
extent do not often occur now ; but the heroism to 
meet them must be received into every man's heart, 
before he can be a Christian in truth. The Master 
led the way in this, knowing all the horror, and feel- 
ing it : yet meeting it still. He called his disciples 
to it, here, on the mountain-side, not disguising any 
part, but showing clearly what they had to meet ; he 
requires it of his followers now ; — the highest and 
noblest feeling in man, courage unto death for a princi- 
ple and through love. Such is Christianity if received 
into our soul ; such in its incipiency, in its constant 
staying there — and to the last gasp of our life. 



330 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE PLOT. 

"While the concluding events of the last chapter 
were occurring, the Sanhedrim were in session in the 
house of Caiaphas, the high priest, with the determined 
purpose to take Jesus by subtilty and to kill him ;* 
and the seizure, in order to be successful, they believed 
must be effected by night ; not by day. For the pop- 
ularity of the Messiah among the multitudes was now 
so great that an open, public attempt would only re- 
coil upon themselves. 

They believed that it was .necessary now, for some- 
thing decisive to be done, and that their action must 
be prompt. The scenes that day in the temple 
showed that there could be no circumventing him, or 
bearing him down by their weight of authority, and 
that, by no cunning could he be made to commit him- 
self in the eyes of the government or of the people. 
In all such plots they had met with worse than defeat. 
And the closing scenes at the temple, the warnings 
against them, and those woes had stung them into a 
rage which demanded only one result. 

But even among themselves, there were, now", men 
secretly favoring Christ ; kept from avowing it, 
through fear of their compeers, and of the decree that 
any one acknowledging him should be excommunicated. 
" They loved the praises of men more than the praise 
of God :"f and perhaps no better example of the 
« Matt xx vi, 3-5. f John xii, 42, 43. 



The Plot. 331 

crushing weight of the Pharisaic power could be given 
than this awe felt by part of the rulers themselves, 
sealing the mouth and preventing any outward dem- 
onstration, although in their secret conscience believ- 
ing in Christ. We are soon to have, in events to be 
detailed, an exemplification of the subtilty and unscru- 
pulousness of the Sanhedrim, in their ready violation 
of all their own laws and usages, and of the political 
pretensions of their whole lives. 

They met, this time, for the sake of secrecy, not in 
their chamber at the temple, but in the house of Caia- 
phas ; and there they laid their plans. 

There were several very serious difficulties in their 
way. In the first place they had not the power to put 
any man to death. Three years previously, the Roman 
government had taken this privilege from the Sanhe- 
drim : and, although, not long after the crucifixion, 
Stephen was stoned to death just outside of Jerusalem 
without authority from the governor, it was done by 
a sudden rush, and an irregular act of violence, not 
by formal vote of the Sanhedrim, although doubtless 
they were pleased with the act. In the case of so 
great a personage, and so beloved by the people, as 
the Messiah, any such deed could not be attempted ; 
especially at the Passover, when the governor himself 
was at Jerusalem. 

In addition to this, " the whole criminal proceed- 
ing prescribed in the Pentateuch rests upon three prin- 
ciples, which maybe thus expressed : publicity of the 
trial ; entire liberty of defence allowed to the accused, 
and a guaranty against the dangers of testimony. One 
witness was not sufficient."* The Hebrew lawyers, in 
* Olshausen. 



332 Life-scenes From the Four Gospels. 

relation to cases where life was at stake, maintained 
that, " A tribunal which condemns to death once in sev- 
en years may be called sanguinary." " It deserves this 
appellation/' said Dr. Sliezur, " when it pronounces 
like sentence in seventy years :"* moreover, according 
to the Talmudists, it was not lawful to try causes of a j 
capital nature in the night, and it was equally unlaw- 
ful to examine a cause, pass sentence and put it in ex- 
ecution the same day. The last was very strenuously 
insisted on.f The proper and constant time for the 
sitting of the Sanhedrim was from the end of the morn- 
ing service to the beginning of the evening service ; 
sometimes the sessions were prolonged till night, and 
then they might determine what they had been delib- 
erating by day : but they might not begin any new 
business by night. J 

The forms of trial, also, allowed to the accused 
every opportunity for defence ; and placed the great- 
est restrictions upon judges against haste in action: 
Says an eminent French advocate who has written on 
this subject : 

u On the day of trial, the executive officer of justice 
caused the accused person to make his appearance. 
At the feet of the elders were placed men who, under 
the name of auditors or candidates, followed regularly 
the sittings of the council. The papers in the case 
were read, and the witnesses called in succession. 
The President addressed this exhortation to each 
of them : 'It is not conjectures, or whatever pub- 
lic rumor has brought to thee, that we ask of thee : 
that we are not occupied by an affair, like a case of 

- Olshausen. f Jahn's Arch. 

JLightfjot — Courts of the Temple: 



The Plot. 333 

pecuniary interest, in which the injury may be re- 
paired. If thou causest the condemnation of a person 
unjustly accused, his blood, and the blood of all the 
posterity of him, of whom thou wilt have deprived 
the earth, will fall upon thee : God will demand of 
thee an account, as he demanded of Cain an account 
of the blood of Abel. Speak.' * * * The wit- 
nesses were to attest to the identity of the party, and 
to depose to the month, day, hour and circumstances 
of the crime. After an examination of the proofs, 
those judges who believed the party innocent stated 
their reasons : those who believed him guilty spoke 
afterwards, and with the greatest moderation. If one 
of the auditors or candidites was entrusted by the ac- 
cused with his defence ; or if he wished, in his own 
name, to present any elucidations in favor of inno- 
cence, he was admitted to the seat, from which he 
addressed the judges and the people. But this liberty 
was not granted to him if his opinion was in favor of 
condemning. Lastly ; when the accused person him- 
self wished to speak, they gave most profound atten- 
tion. When the discussion was finished, one of the 
judges recapitulated the case. They removed all the 
spectators ; two scribes took down the votes of the 
judges ; one of them noted those that were in favor 
of the accused, and the other those who condemned 
him. Eleven votes out of twenty- three were sufficient 
to acquit ; but it required thirteen to convict. * * 
If a majority of the votes acquitted, the accused 
was discharged instantly ; if he was to be punished, 
the judges postponed pronouncing sentence till the 
third day : during the intermediate day, they could 
not be occupied with anything but the cause ; and 



334= Life-scenes fpom the Four Gospels. 

they abstained from eating freely, and from wine, 
liquors, and everything which might render their 
minds less capable of reflection. 

" On the morning of the third day they returned to 
the judgment-seat. Each judge who had not changed 
his opinion said, I continue of the same opinion and 
condemn. Any one who at first condemned might at 
this sitting acquit ; but he who had once acquitted 
was not allowed to condemn. If a majority con- 
demned, two magistrates immediately accompanied 
the condemned person to the place of punishment. 
The Elders did not descend from their seats ; they 
placed at the entrance of the judgment-hall an officer 
of justice, with a small flag in his hand ; a second 
officer, on horseback, followed the prisoner, and con- 
stantly kept looking back to the place of departure. 
During this interval, if any person came to announce 
to the Elders any new evidence favorable to the pri- 
soner, the first officer waved his flag, and the second 
one, as soon as he perceived it, brought back the 
prisoner. If the prisoner declared to the magistrates 
that he recollected some reasons which had escaped 
him, they brought him before the judges no less than 
five times. If no incident occurred, the procession 
advanced slowly, preceded by a herald, .who, in a 
loud voice, addressed the people thus : ' This man 
(stating his name and surname) is led to punishment 
for such a crime ; the witnesses who have sworn 
against him are such and such persons : if any one 
has evidence to give in his favor, let him come forth 
quickly. 7 "* 



q " Trial of Jesus," by Dupin, Advocate and Doctor of Laws. 
Translated from the French by J. Pickering, LL.D. 



The Plot. 335 

Such were the restrictions which the chief priests 
and scribes and elders — chiefly Pharisees — felt upon 
themselves in their deliberations " to take Jesus by 
subtilty and kill him ;" but they had now determined, 
in order to accomplish their purpose, to disregard all 
restrictions of usages and law. If they could seize 
him by night, — well into the night, — when the multi- 
tudes would be asleep, they might avoid an uproar 
among the people : if they could, by a night conclave, 
establish charges against him and condemn him, he 
would then, when the people would awake in the morn- 
ing, be in an attitude of an already convicted crimi- 
nal ; and the multitudes would be stupefied, or at least 
kept in a state of wonder, and thus in check : more- 
over, if they could condemn him on a charge of blas- 
phemy, the most hideous of all charges in the eyes of 
the Jewish nation, the people not knowing how the 
trial had been conducted, but only of the condemna- 
tion under it, might be led, by a sudden revulsion of 
feeling, from favor to the opposite extreme of hatred, 
and might join in the condemnation themselves. The 
rulers might also work on the intense popular feel- 
ing of pride in their temple, by charging him with a 
wish to destroy that temple ; and could enter this 
also in their condemnation. Then there would be 
but another step to be taken ; and the way for that 
would now be prepared. The Sanhedrim could not 
order an execution ; but, they might, on the charge 
of treason against the Eoman government, induce 
the governor to give such an order : and this ruler 
was now in Jerusalem, ready to their hand. His 
residence was at Csesarea ; but he was always in this 
city on the great festivals, for the double purpose of 



336 Life scenes from the Four Gospels. 

guarding against insurrections, and of holding court 
for the trial of great criminals ; the inferior one be- 
ing left to the Jewish elders themselves. The Sanhe- 
drim wanted, in this case, to have a punishment in- 
flicted that would not only gratify their revenge, but 
would stamp the sufferer with infamy, and annihilate 
respect and hope in his adherents ; and this could 
be brought about most readily by charging Christ 
with attempting to put down the Roman authority, 
and to elevate himself, as king, instead ; a crime 
sure to bring on him the severest punishment that the 
Roman power could inflict. If the governor would 
not listen to this charge, they might then take one 
step further, and one pretty sure to be successful, by 
insinuating that charges against his own loyalty could 
be sent on to Rome, and be laid at the feet of Tibe- 
rias, whose keen jealousy and unscrupulous despotism 
were fully known to all. 

Such was clearly their arranged plan : for it is evi- 
dent that, through the whole trial, they proceeded ac- 
cording to a settled scheme of action ; and the sub- 
orned witnesses, previously prepared, knew, when 
brought forward, exactly what to say. 

The meetings of the Sanhedrim were properly in 
their own room by the temple ; but in cases of emer- 
gency, they might be held in the palace of the high 
priest ; and this was to be now their place of consul- 
tation, as there it would have less publicity than up 
in the temple courts. 

We have seen on a former occasion the kind of 
men, of which their law required the Sanhedrim' to 
lie composed. The high priest was president; and 
in order that the reader may have some knowledge of 



The Plot. 337 

the High Priests and their title to respectability in 
the Jewish nation, the subjoined list from Lightfoot 
is furnished, beginning with the 23d from the Baby- 
lonish captivity ; we will remember here what the 
Jewish writer, Jost, says on a former page, " that 
a priesthood, which the king [Herod] conferred on 
whom he pleased, and of whose incumbents he had 
killed two and deposed four, &c, could by no means 
satisfy the requisitions of God's government, and of 
the Judaism resulting- from it. — The list is as fol- 
lows : — 

23. Hyrcanus ; his mother, Alexandra, an ambitious woman and 
the equally ambitious Pharisees, rule the nation. 

24. Aristobulus, younger brother of Hyrcanus, after the death 
of their mother, makes war upon his brother, drives him 
from his kingdom to a private life, and takes both his priest- 
hood and his kingdom to himself. They both desire help 
from the Eomans, Scaurus and Pompey : Aristobulus, pro- 
voking Pompey, causes the sacking of Jerusalem and the 
subjugation of the Jews to the Eoman yoke, from under which 
they were never relieved. Pompey restores the high-priest- 
hood to Hyrcanus and carries Aristobulus and his son An- 
tigonus to Rome. 

25. Alexander, son of Aristobulus, escaping from Pompey on 
the way to Eome, is made high-priest ; tries to subvert the 
government, and his effort is twice suppressed by the Roman 
Gabinius. 

26. Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, escapes from Rome, and gets 
the high-priesthood. Hyrcanus (23d high-priest,) delivered 
into his hands by the Parthians, kneels before Antigonus, 
who bites off his uncle's ears, so that the latter might no longer 
aspire to the high-priesthood* Antigonus is taken by An- 
tony, whipped, crucified, and decapitated* 

27. Ananelus, an inferior priest, sent for out of Babylon, is 
made high-priest by Herod. Alexandra, daughter of Bjrca- 

• Jos. Bel. i, 1.3, § 9. 
15 



338 Life-scenes prom the Four Gospels. 

nus, combining with Mariam, Herod's wife, had him depos- 
ed, and caused him to be succeeded by 

28. Aristobulus, fifteen years of age, of rare beauty. After one 
year's enjoyment of it, he is drowned by Herod's order, and 
Ananelus (No. 27) is restored. 

29. Jesus son of Ferans. Herod deposes him. 

30. Simon son of Boethus. Herod married his daughter, and 
made him high-priest. 

31. Matthias, son of Theophilus. Deposed by Herod. 

32. Jozarus, son of Simon (No. 30.) Herod deposes him. 

33. Eleazur ; made high-priest by Archelaus. 

34 Jesus, son of Sie ; gets Eleazur removed, and has his place. 

35. Jozarus (No. 32) again. Was high-priest at the birth of 
Christ. Eemoved. 

36. Ananus ; made high-priest by Cyrenius. Eemoved. 

37. Ismael ; appointed by Valerius Gratus, governor of Judea. 
Removed by Gratus at the end of one year.* 

38. Eleazur, son of Ananus ; appointed by Gratus ; held it one 
year ; removed by the same. 

39. Simon ; appointed by Gratus ; held it one year. 

40. Caiaphas, also called Josephus. He was Gratus' creature 
also. 

These four changes were made by -Gratus in eleven years. 
Annas, or Ananus, who had been high-priest, four changes 
before him, is said to be high-priest with him, (Luke iii, 2.) 
Caiaphas was [afterwards] removed by Yitellius.f 

"We may thus form an idea of the tribunal plotting 
the death of the Messiah by subtil iy, and before 
which he was to appear for judgment — a body of sev- 
enty men, almost entirely Pharisees — chiefly such 
characters as he had delineated in his temple address ; 
some believing on him, but too timid to acknowledge 
their belief; at their head a high-priest, at a time 
when that office was .given or taken away at the ca- 
price of the Roman governor, and was little respect- 

o Jos. Ant. xviii, 2, § 2. f Lightfoot. 



The Supper at Bethany. — Judas. 339 

ed ; the Sanhedrim, sufficiently full of hate itself, and 
stimulated still more by the other Scribes and Phari- 
sees. The recklessness with which this body trod 
under foot all former laws and usages and went for- 
ward to the end, shows the strength of the venom in 
their hearts. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

THE SUPPER AT BETHANY. — JUDAS. 

The means which the Sanhedrim desired for effect- 
ing their purposes were speedily found. — There was 
a traitor among the disciples themselves. 

Events have just been multiplying so fast, that an 
effort will be necessary, in order to keep them clearly 
in our minds. We observe that 

The 9th of the Jewish month, Nisan, corresponding 
to our Saturday, (the Jewish Sabbath,) the Messiah 
spent at Jericho. 

10th, Sunday. — He came to Bethany. 

11th, Monday. — His public entry into Jerusalem ; 
returns for the night to Bethany. 

12th, Tuesday. — Comes again to Jericho. Cleanses 
the temple ; teaches ; returns to Bethany. 

13th, Wednesday. — Again in Jerusalem ; discourses 
in the temple. The woes denounced. The Sanhe- 
drim have their consultation and form their plans. 
* On the evening of this last day, after those denun- 



340 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ciations in the temple, and the quiet scene on Olivet 
where the disciples, in the anticipation of common 
danger, drew nearer in heart to their Master than ever 
before, he and they had proceeded to Bethany, where 
they were now entertained at supper in the house of 
Simon the leper, Lazarus being one of the guests at 
the feast.* Among the Jews, a slight dinner, chiefly 
of fruits, milk, cheese, &c, was.eaten at eleven o'clock 
of our time, their principal meal being at six or seven 
in the evening. Their feasts were always at this latter 
time. Hands were washed before eating^and the feet 
of the guests or travellers also sometimes, by ser- 
vants ; or, where particular honor was intended, by 
members of the family, t as indeed is done at the pre- 
sent day. 

The time was one when all the tender sensibilities 
of Christ's friends were deeply aroused ; for there 
was, in all of them, a sense of some impending danger 
to him — probably some fearful calamity ; his own 
words, the known fierce and cunning wrath of his 
enemies, and the scenes of the day, all showing that 
a crisis must be drawing nigh. Those woes hurled 
so thickly on the rulers, every person knew would not 
be forgotten : they had never- been so reprobated, ex- 
posed, andj in effect, defied, before ; and all this, 
now, by one individual, without resources in govern- 
mental help or powerful friends. Only a miracle 
could save him ; and that exercise of power, although 
within his reach, he had intimated he would not ex- 

c Matt, xxvi, 6 ; John xii, 2. 

f See 1 Saml. xxv, 41 ; Gen. xviii, 4, and xix, 2 ; also " Robin- 
son's Researches," Vol. iii, p. 25, describing the manner in which 
the feet of his party were washed at Ramleh. 



The Supper at Bethany. — Judas. 341 

ert. He had said that he would submit, and had de- 
clared that his death, by violence, was near : and the 
prophet long before had said, that he should be " led 
as a sheep to the slaughter/' that " the chastisement 
of our peace was to be upon him," that "with his 
stripes we should be-healed/ 7 and that the Lord had 
" laid on him the iniquity of us all.*" He himself 
knew that it would be his last supper at Bethany 
among these friends ; for his hour would now soon 
come. 

While they were at this meal, Mary, the sister of 
Lazarus, came in, and opening a vessel of very costly 
perfume, she poured some of it on his head,t and 
with it also washed his feet, after which she wiped 
them with the hair of her head ; the scent of the opo- 
balsam filling all. the house.^ There was a secret 
indignation among some of the disciples at this waste, 
when they thought how the money might have been 
spent among the poor ; but the Messiah said, " Let 
her alone : the poor ye have always with you ; but 
me ye have not always : she hath done what she 
could, and is come to anoint my body to the bury- 

ing."§ 

Judas spake out in his thoughts, " Why was not this 
ointment sold for 300 pence! (equal to $45 of our 
money) and given to the poor •" not that he felt un- 
common sympathy for the poor, but " because he was a 
thief and had the bag and bore what was put therein."! 

What momentous events seem, at times, to hang on 

*Is.ltii,5, G. f Matt, xxvi, 7. J John xii, 3. § Mark xiv, 4-8. 
|| A penny or Denarius was a day's wages for a laboring man: 
See Matt, xx, 2. 
ff John xii, 4-6. 



312 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

little things : — seem so to us ; but, in the inscrutable 
counsels of God, where, and where only, his purposes 
and our free agency can be reconciled, they do not 
seem so to depend ; all being fore-known to him.— 
From this time Judas was a traitor, the worst that the 
world has ever known. 

When he was first selected to be among the twelve, 
he was probably a man, in character and disposition, 
much like the others, but of financial capabilities better 
than theirs. They were all dark in mind and self- 
seeking : but still with varieties of dispositions and in- 
tellect, which, in their peculiar position, became every 
day more developed and marked. Christ exerted no 
miraculous power over their wills, but left their affec- 
tions and wills free to act ; exerting influence by his 
own great example and teachings before them ;— still 
leaving them to choose. With Christ himself before 
him, day by day, for about three years, Judas still 
chose the wrong. What a wonderful history his would 
be, if we knew it ; — those transitions from bad to 
worse and still worse, in his heart ; the struggles 
there, — for there were doubtless such, early in his 
case ; the admiration for Christ gradually lessened by 
base passion rising in him, and taking its place : the 
affection always weak perhaps, but sometimes lighted 
up to greater strength, then flickering and dying away, 
and, at last, dead : and then all the soul's life in him, 
dead. 

Doubtless, Judas tried, in his own mind, to justify 
himself; — as what man like* him does not ? — and 
probably with a result half satisfactory to himself. 
He might try to consider himself an injured man, led 
on, for three years, with expectations of great final tri- 



The Supper at Bethany. — Judas. 343 

umph and reward ; but thwarted just at the very time 
when the reward seemed to be within reach. On Mon- 
day, the multitudes had saluted his Master in terms 
of reverence and worship. Once before they had en- 
deavored to put him in the seat of royalty, but he had 
^withdrawn himself from them ; now the outburst of 
enthusiasm had broken through every restraint, and 
the shouts of their hosannas iia.d rung over Jeru- 
salem and through the temple cloisters. How easy 
would it have been for Jesus, sustained by his miracu- 
lous powers, to have made himself the mighty earthly 
ruler so long expected and hoped for ; and to have 
aggrandized and made glorious the whole Jewish 
nation ! And in refusing this, (the traitor might 
argue) he had done a wrong to all the Jewish people ; 
and especially to Judas, who might, in that new king- 
dom, have grown so wealthy. Worse than that, he 
had offended all the rulers, and insulted them (still, 
Judas arguing) with woes heaped on them, and in- 
sulted the nation by declaring that God was withdraw- 
ing his favor from it, soon to give it to another peo- 
ple. — So all hopes of aggrandizement and wealth from 
this source had perished from the mind of Judas, who 
had hoped to be treasurer in that great earthly king- 
dom which all were expecting to see established. 

One other bitter ingredient had just been put into 
that cup, where every drop seemed to him now to be 
turning into gall. It was when the Messiah, on their 
way from Jerusalem, had told his disciples that they 
should be, everywhere^ persecuted, betrayed by fath- 
er and brother ; should be hated, and some of them 
put to death. He had spoken of the Comforter that 
should be with them, and of their inward peace, and 



344 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 
their final rewards in heaven : but an avaricious man 



could see nothing in all this, except the suffering, and 
the persecution, and the losses ; no requital to a heart 
like his. 

Here now, at the supper, when his indignation 
aboutrthe waste broke out, he was met with a reproof 
— gentle in its tone and very mild, but, in his state 
of feeling, all the more provoking to him from its 
very mildness. It showed such a want of an appre- 
ciation of money and of him, the treasurer : he felt 
also now, from Christ's insight into his character, that 
his hypocrisy was to him unmasked, his motive 
known, and his thieving revealed. 

So Satan entered into him now," unresisted, and had 
the full possession. 

One thought more ; and that was quickly supplied 
by the Tempter. If Christ must die, why then 
might not he, Judas, have a pecuniary benefit from the 
event ? 

The love of money is declared in Scripture to be 
the root of all evil ; and on the very next day, Judas 
went to the Jewish rulers to bargain for betraying 
his Master, with whom he could still remain, and of 
whose movements he could inform them, and also the 
most fitting time for their purposes. All was soon 
agreed upon. He asked them, li What will ye give 
me and I will deliver him unto you? And^thcy 
covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver,*'' — 
the price of a slave according to the old Jewish 
law.t 

° Luke xxii, 3. 

f Exodus xxi, 32. If this money was in shekels, 30 picas would 
amount to $15 05 of our money ; if the Roman stater, to $22 50. 



The Passover Feast. 345 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



THE PASSOVER FEAST. 



A great festival, commemorative of the most re- 
markable event in the Jewish history, had come down 
to them from the day when they first properly began 
to be a nation. Their forefathers had been slaves in 
Egypt. One night, after a series of miracles designed 
to set them free, but resisted by the Egyptian monarch, 
a visitation the most appalling possible to their bond- 
masters was to effect their deliverance. The first-born 
in every family was to be, that night, slain by a divine 
judgment, throughout that whole country ; the houses 
of the Israelites alone being excepted. It was a mo- 
mentous time : on the one side, seemingly their last 
hope of deliverance from slavery : on the other, a uni- 
versal cry of anguish ; wailing for the Egyptian dead 
over r 11 the land ; and those dead the favored ones — 
the first-borir — in every house. In the morning the 
Jews were sent off : deliverance had come. 

The Feast of the Passover, in commemoration of this, 
brought to Jerusalem the whole Jewish people from 
their own region, and from distant lands. This im- 
mense assemblage had, on their arrival, to divide 
themselves into companies of not less than ten or more 
than twenty," and' each company had to prepare a 
lamb, or, if no lamb could be. found, a kid. to be eaten 
on this occasion. It was to be a male of that year, 
without blemish, and was to be brought, on the day be- 

* Tholuck. 



346 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

fore the commencement of the festival, to the great 
altar at the temple, and killed there between the hours 
of three and six in the afternoon. This was to be on 
the 14th of the month Abib, (afterwards called Nisan,) 
the first month of their sacred year. The blood was 
sprinked at the foot of the altar, the fat taken out and 
thrown into the fire on the altar, the body carried home 
for the supper and roasted whole, the skin given to the 
owner of the house. All houses in Jerusalem were, 
on this occasion, open indiscriminately to the public, 
and might be used by common right, during the feast. 
The flesh not eaten at the supper was to be burned, to- 
gether with the bones. There was also other meat, 
called the peace-offering, placed on the table, to take 
off the edge of their appetites, so that they might not 
go voraciously to the Paschal lamb : also in case it 
might not be sufficient for a large company. 

At or before noon of the 14th, all leaven was to be 
carefully removed from the houses ; and during eight 
days, they were to eat only unleavened bread, in com- 
memoration of the haste with which their ancestors had 
left their place of bondage. Bitter herbs* were also to 
be provided for this Paschal supper ; and they had also 
a sauce, called charoseth, composed of things sweet and 
bitter, pounded together in memory of the clay in 
which their forefathers labored when making bricks in 
the land of Egypt. 

After sunset, (now the beginning of the loth, by the 
Jewish reckoning, their day beginning at sunset,) the 
company assembled and took their places around the 
table, reclining on couches, (the posture of freemen,) 
to show that they had got out of servitude into free- 
* Ex. xii, 8. 



The Passover Feast. 347 

dom. Oivother occasions, the Jews might choose their 
posture • and they often sat at table, but at the Pas- 
chal supper their rules prescribed that " a man is 
bound to eat and to drink and to sit in a posture of 
freedom," that is to recline. 

That was the usual posture among the Greeks and 
Romans at their feasts. They leaned on the left arm, 
a cushion or bolster under the shoulder assisting to 
ease the posture ; and if there were several at table, 
the chief person occupied the middle place, the oth- 
ers in front or back of him, or similarly arranged at 
other tables placed at rectangles with this. As they 
reclined slantingly to the table, so as to bring each 
man's head in front of the chest of the one next be- 
hind him, if the former wished to speak to the latter, 
especially if it was anything secret, he leaned his 
head back on the bosom of the other (in sinu recum- 
bere Plin. Epist. iv, 22.) The Gemara says of the 
Persians that, " when they could not discourse be- 
cause of their way of leaning at meals, they talked 
by signs either with their hands or upon their fin- 
gers :" and the Jews had probably adopted the same 
custom during their ancient captivity in Persia. 

On the morning of the 14th of Nisan (our Thurs- 
day) the Messiah sent two disciples, Peter and John, 
from Bethany to Jerusalem, to prepare for the Pass- 
over supper : in the evening he and the remainder of 
them followed to that city. We may easily imagine 
the traitor, in this, to him, uncongenial, but for the 
present necessary, companionship ; for he was watch- 
ing for the best time and place r in which to execute 
his contract with the ganhedrim. He had, that day,* 
bargained with them : had returned and joined _the 



348 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. • 

party of the disciples ; and was now accompany- 
ing them to unite in the Paschal sapper. What a 
thoroughly-depraved wretch he must have felt him- 
self to be, in spite of every effort of justification in 
his own mind ! We can imagine him, sometimes 
afraid to look his Master or companions in the face ; 
sometimes trying to be brazen and composed, but fail- 
ing continually in the effort ; sometimes shrinking 
away and wishing to be apart" from the company; 
and again mixing with them, in order to present sus- 
picion, and because he hated being alone with his 
own thoughts. We can see his eye cowering before 
the looks of others ; or assuming an impudent, or 
affectedly-composed, or defiant expression ; sometimes 
startled bywords from them innocent of any particu- 
lar meaning, but yet, in his convictions, seeming to 
be pointed at him ; often wondering whether his own 
changed tones of voice, or his unaccounted-for ab- 
sence, or his manner, might not have betrayed him. 
He followed on, thus, over Olivet, and into the city; 
feeling, as he entered it, that he was bound by a 
hellish compact with the rulers there ; and that men, 
so determined in malice as they had showed them- 
selves to be, held him now in their power, in a kind 
of triumph, through his weakness and baseness. He 
had seen that triumph in their gladness and the glis- 
tening of their eyes that day, as the compact was 
made ; and he knew that they despised him, while 
they were thankful and glad. Of his Master, and of 
that long-continued kindness to him, and gentleness, 
and Divine goodness, he dared not think at all, to- 
day : for every such thought was a 'dagger, and made 
him shrink with pain. 



The Passover Feast. 349 

They proceeded to the room selected for this meal, 
and soon afterwards took their places at the table ; 
John being in front of the Messiah, as they reclined 
on their couches. But, alas ! even in this time of deep 
distress, when, as they had been informed, the. hour, 
of agony and death was close at hand, the old feeling 
of ambition and strife revived.* Perhaps it was on 
the question, who should have the second place of 
honor at the table, which was always the one just t in 
front of the Master ; perhaps it had originated from 
some other matter even more discreditable than that ; 
but the Saviour, — how merciful, how gentle, how God- 
like in this mercy and gentleness !— said f to them, 
" The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over 
them ; and they that exercise authority upon them 
are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so ; but 
he that is greatest among you, let him be as the 
younger ; and he that is chief as he that doth serve. 
For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or 
he that serveth ? Is not he that sitteth at meat ? but 
I am among you as one that serveth,"f &c. So, in 
order to impress his injunction, he arose from table 
and, laying aside his upper garment, took a basin and 
towel, and entered on a very menial office, that of 
washing their feet. By the usages of that country, 
this was never done by a superior to an inferior ; 
and when he came to Peter, that impetuous disciple 
drew back : 

" Lord, dost thou wash my feet ?" and declared that 
it should never be done. 

" If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me," 

o Luke xxii, 24. f lb. 25-27. 



350 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

was the reply ; and the startled disciple cried out : 

"Lord, not my feet only, but also by hands and 
my head."* 

Judas was amongst them, and Christ, doubtless, 
washed his feet also. How the conscious traitor 
must have shrunk at his touch ! 

The company, however, was not long troubled with 
the presence of this man. Soon after their reclin- 
ing at table, the rest of the disciples, for the first 
time, became aware that there was such a traitor 
among them. The Saviour said : 

" Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth 
with me shall betray me." 

A shudder must have gone through them, with a 
deep gloom on the heart ; and there must have been 
a quivering of the lip, as they all asked, 

" Lord, is it I ?" 

No consciousness among the eleven, but a query by 
each whether he was suspected, and a wish, by the 
expected answer, to stand acquitted before the com- 
pany. They turned upon each other inquisitive ar*d 
doubting glances ; — those men who had been with 
him so long, so attached, erring often, always dark 
in apprehensions, grieving him by their mistakes ; — 
but traitor ! who was the miscreant ? Their glances 
went around the table ; their feelings were warm 
with indignation ; they were ready to shrink from 
each other — after all this fellowship, and these plea- 
sant communings, a traitor! Who was he? Peter 

o John xiii. 6-9. "Among the duties required from a wife to- 
wards ber husband, there was one, that she should wash his face, 
his hands, and his feet. This was expected by a father from his 
son ; the same from a servant towards his master.' Ji^Lightfoot. 



The Passover Feast. 351 

could bear it no longer ; but gave John a secret 
sign to question further ; and this disciple, leaning 
back so as to bring his head on the Saviour's breast, 
asked, in a whisper, who it was. The answer was a 
certain signal by which John could know and could 
communicate to Peter who was the individual.* To 
Judas he said : 

" What thou doest, do quickly ;" an expression 
enigmatical to the rest ; but the traitor, excited and 
thrown off his guard, asked, 

" Master, is it I ? ;7 The answer was, 

" Thou hast said,"t equivalent to, u ^t is you." He 
left the room, unmasked, a fugitive from their com- 
pany and from his Lord,— lost. 

One of the disciples gone : and he a traitor ! 

There was a vacant place at the table. What of 
the rest ? A gloomy feeling fell on the compaaf 
such as there always is from a desertion. A vacancy 
sometimes has about it remembrances of worth and 
nobleness": but there was none in the present case. 
Baseness, hypocrisy, treachery was the remembrance 
that Judas left behind ; and there was no wickedness 
that now they might not expect from him, directed 
probably against themselves. Contempt for his con- 
duct could scarcely buoy they up ; for he had been one 
of them, and they felt that the baseness had been di- 
rectly from among their own company. They were pros- 
trated in spirit by the discovery, felt disgraced, dis- 
honored by the recent companionship ,-: — what suspi- 
cions might not the Master have now about them ? 
They looked towards the vacant place, with a deep 
sinking in their hearts ; towards the Master, so long 
* John xiii, 23-28. f Mattxxvi, 25. 



352 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

the beloved, the admired, the venerated, in their in- 
most soul.— His face was very sad. Could he doubt 
them ? Nay, why might he not doubt them now ? 
Eyes were turned again upon him, trying to read in 
his face expressions of confidence and trust in them. 
He spoke, by and by ; and- the words were even more- 
dark and gloomy than their gloomy thoughts. " All 
ye shall be offended because of me this night : for it is writ- 
ten, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be 
scattered abroad/' — Even on the back of this assertion 
there was no censure on them, but simply the promise, 
" But after that I am risen, I will go before you into 
Galilee."* Indeed, there was almost too much prostra- 
tion of feeling among the company generally, for any 
sentiment except sadness ; yet, even then, hope was 
given to them. But Peter spake up : for his heart re- 
coiled at the thought of the general desertion, and he 
knew not yet how weak he himself was. His voice 
was confident. " Though all should be offended of 
thee yet will I not be offended." And he looked for 
an approval of his bravery. It came not, but the an- 
swer. " Verily I say unto thee that this day, even io 
this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny 
me thrice, "t The tones of the Saviour's voice must 
have been even sadder than the words ; and both 
drew from Peter, with still greater vehemence, the as- 
sertion, " If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee 
in any wise." And the others said the same.J They 
had been roused up by Peter's vehemence ; their feel- 
ings rallied around their Lord, and they broke 
through the gloom consequent on Judas' desertion to 
""o Murkxiv, 30, 31. f Matt - xxvi > 31 > 32 - t Ib - *2-Zo. 



The Passover Feast. 353 

make bold protestations of their fidelity. It was not 
kept. 

The whole procedure at this meal was specially 
prescribed ; and, according to the account of the Tal- 
mud it was as follows : 

1. The guests being placed around the table, they 
mingled a cup of wine with water, over which the 
master of the family (or if two or more families were 
united, a person deputed for the purpose) gave thanks 
and drank jt off. The thanksgiving for the wine 
was to this effect ; " Blessed be thou, Lord, who 
hast created the fruit of the vine ;" and for the day 
as follows ; " Blessed be thou for this good day, 
and for this- holy convocation, which thou hast given 
us for joy and rejoicing. Blessed be thou, Lord, 
who hast sanctified Israel and the times." 

2. They then washed their hands ; after which the 
table was furnished with the Paschal lamb roasted 
whole, with bitter herbs, and with two cakes of un- 
leavened bread, together with the flesh of the peace- 
offering, and the charpseth or thick sauce above 
mentioned. 

3. The officiator, or person presiding, then took 
a small piece of the salad ; and, having blessed God 
for creating the fruit of the ground, he ate it, the 
other guests following his example ; after which all 
the dishes were removed from the table, that the chil- 
dren might inquire and be instructed in the- nature of 
the feast. (Ex. xii, 25, 26.) The text on which they 
generally discoursed was Deut. xxvi, 5-11. 

4. Then replacing the supper, they explained the 
import of the bitter herbs and Paschal lamb ; and, 



354 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

over a second cup of wine, repeated cxiii and cxiv 
Psalms with an eucharistic prayer. 

5. The hands were again washed, accompanied by 
an ejaculatory prayer ; after which the master of the 
house proceeded to break and bless a cake of the. 
unleavened bread, half of which he distributed among 
the guests, reserving half beneath a napkin, if neces- 
sary for the aphicomas, or last morsel ; for the rule 
was to conclude with eating a small piece of the Pas^ 
chal lamb. 

6. They then ate the rest of the cake with the 
bitter herbs, dipping the bread in the charoseth or 
sauce. 

7. Next they ate the flesh of the peace offering ; 
and, then, the flesh of the Paschal lamb ; which was 
followed by returning thanks to God, and a second 
washing of the hands. 

8. A third cup of wine was then filled, over which 
they blessed God, or said grace after meat, (whence 
i t was called the cup of blessing,-") and the wine was 
drank. 

9. Lastly ; a fourth cup of wine was filled, called 
the cup of the Hallel : over that they completed the 
supper, either by singing or reciting the great Hallel, 
a hymn of praise consisting of Psalms cxv to cxviii 
inclusive, and also with a prayer.f 

If the Messiah followed this order, it was doubtless 
in the fifth and eight parts of it that the eucharistic 
feast of the Christian church was instituted : " Take, 
eat, this is my body, which is given for you : this # do 

C See 1 Cor. x, 16. 

f Home's " Introduction," originally from Lightfoot. 



The Passover Feast. 355 

in remembrance of me :•" " This cup is the new tes- 
tament in my blood, which is shed for 3^ou.' ; 

u My blood of the new covenant ; /J for that is. here, 
the meaning of the word. A covenant is an agree- 
ment between two individuals, to do, or to forbear, 
some act or thing ; a contract : and it was here a 
contract by the Messiah to be sealed with his own 
life-blood. 

There was once, long before this time, a scene of 
[£reat solemnity, at the foot of Sinai, just after God 
had given to Moses, on the top of that mountain, the 
written covenant : and that scene was. when that 
covenant was ratified by the people of Israel, with 
the shedding of the blood of victims, — burnt-offerings 
and peace-offerings to God. There had just been the 
uiost imposing event that our world has ever wit- 
nessed : for, on Sinai, there were " thunders and 
lightnings, and a thick black cloud upon the mount, 
and the voice of the trumpet sounding loud • so that 
all the people that were in the camp trembled. And 
Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to 
meet with God : and they stood at the nether part of 
the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a 
smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire . 
and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a fur- 
nace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. *■' * * 
And all the people saw the thundermgs and the light- 
nings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain 
smoking, and when the people saw it, they removed 
and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak 
thou with us and we will hear : but let not God 
speak with us, lest we die."* 

x « Exodus xix,_UML8vjcx, 18,.19.i" 



356 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

Their leader had now come down from the moun- 
tain top, and from the cloud shrouding that Majesty 
which no mortal might see clearly and live ; and he 
told the people :i all the words of the Lord, and 
all the judgments : and all the people answered 
with one voice and said, All the words which the 
Lord hath said will we do." \^B.e wrote down the 
words ; and built an altar, and erected twelve 
pillars to represent the tribes. Then, on this altar, 
they offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed peace-offer- 
ings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half 
of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the 
blood he sprinkled on the altar. And ho took the 
book of the covenant, and read it in the audience of 
the people j and they said? 

" All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be 
obedient." 

" And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on 
the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, 
which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these 
words."* 

It was a grand, and most solemn and imposing 
spectacle. How different from it, in all the outward 
seeming, was this spectacle in the private room at 
Jerusalem, where Christ, who had just before laid 
aside his upper garments to wash his disciples' feet, 
now brake the bread to them, and gave them the cup 
to drink. But there was a moral grandeur in this 
simple scene, which no cloud enveloping a mountain, 
and thunder and lightning there, could ever reach • 
for he said, respecting this new covenant, " This cup 
is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for 
c Exodus xxiv, 3-8. 



The Passover Feast. 357 

you."* His own blood it was which was to be sprink- 
led on all nations ; he the sacrifice for all the world ! 

The Israelites moved off from Sinai, awed and 
frightened by the earthquakes and the signs on the 
mountain's brow; and they said to Moses, "Speak 
thou with us and we will hear ; but let not God 
speak with us, lest we die f but the words of Christ 
draw us towards him, and towards heaven, through 
the fullness of love to all men which they display. 

Having finished the Passover meal, they sang their 
hymn : and then, before leaving the room, there was 
an address from the Messiah to his disciples, and after- 
wards a prayer, to both of which angels might well 
have been listeners; for the words seem to blend to- 
gether both heaven and earth. They were the last 
of the teachings of the greatest Teacher earth has 
known, or will ever know. 

We perceive, in these words, shades of thought 
n-ever seen but in the truest and deepest affection, 
which always has promptings of its own peculiar 
kind. '* In my Father's house are many mansions : 
if it were not so I would have told you. I go to pre- 
pare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a 
place for you, I will come again and receive you unto 
myself; that where I am there ye may be also." 
That was a most tender as well as true regard, 
which, when he should get into possession of the 
kingdom in heaven, would not be contented till it 
had brought him to take them up to himself. — Yet 
they were frail men, full of darkness and errors. 

how tender and beautiful is the love op 
Christ ! 

° Luke xxii, 20. 



358 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

He had now almost completed his mission on the 
earth. He had been our Example and our Teacher : 
one act remained, — to die for us. The cross was to 
be raised up before all the world as evidence of God's 
hatred of sin, and of the unyielding nature of his law 
against unrighteousness ; — Christ there, the expia- 
tion, the voluntary sacrifice offered for all mankind. 
11 For as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder- 
ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up ; that 
whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but 
have everlasting life."* He had often looked for- 
ward to this event with shudderings of his human na- 
ture at its horrors ; yet he turned not aside, but said, 
11 For this cause came I unto this hour." The hour 
was now close at hand. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

GETHSEMANE. 

The traitor, in the meanwhile, was busy in his 
work. 

He knew the habits and resorts of the Messiah ; 
and was forwarding preparations for the seizure, 
which the Sanhedrim intended to make this night. 
Their plans were laid : they had now a ready instru- 
ment for the first act, bought with their gold. A 
company was formed, subordinates of the Sanhedrim 

c John in. 14. 15. 



GrETHSEMANE. 359 

and temple,* armed and sufficient in number to bear 
down opposition : but, strong as it was, the chief 
priests and captains and elders also attended ,f to see 
that their work was surely done. The traitor had 
given, as a signal, the act of kindest friendship in salu- 
tation, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he ; 
hold him fast. 7 't 

Silently their preparations were made • the traitor 
sometimes looking to see that the company was suf- 
ficiently large and of the right spirit ; sometimes 
sending his thoughts back to that supper-table, the 
agitating question put'around, " Is it I V and the sad- 
ness on the Saviour's face in that scene ; and most of 
all to the words respecting himself by Christ, "It 
had been good for that man if he had not been born :' ; § 
and sometimes, perhaps, he queried, whether Christ 
would not, when this party should appear, disperse, 
or overawe them by his miraculous powers ; or pass 
unharmed from among them, as he had often done be- 
fore. Perhaps Judas expected this last : still, as to 
himself, he had the money in his pocket, his reward 
secured. 

Thus they were prepared, and awaiting in Jerusa- 
lem the order to move. 

It was the time of the full moon ; and a mellow 
light was shed on the streets of the city and the hills 
about it, as the Messiah and his disciples left their 
supper-room, and passing the eastern gate, descended 
the slope leading down towards the Kedron. They 
went along in sadness ; their minds filled with the 
solemn events at that Passover meal, and with the 

* Mark xiv, 43. f Luke xxii, 52. % Matt, xxyi, 48. 

§ Matt, xxvi, 24. 



360 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

sense of the fierce trials close at hand ; and as they 
met, or passed, company after company on the way, 
the festive gladness of the latter came jarring on their 
hearts. How easily could a few words from the Mes- 
siah, then, have aroused all those multitudes. — more 
than two millions — in and about the city, and have 
made them the quick executors of his will and power : 
for the general enthusiasm towards him needed but a 
spark to make it. to all opposers, a consuming flame ; 
and his miraculous powers could also have called 
even angels down, if need should be. But he passed 
on in silence : he did not desire observation, but re- 
tirement and a few hours for prayer : and he would 
then be ready for the self-sacrifice which was to drain 
his life-blood. His hour had come : and the deed 
he knew, was necessary for the redemption of our 
race. 

But still the trial to his human nature would be hor- 
rible ; and he felt it already with a shrinking and a 
quivering through all his frame ; # the death-convulsions 
foreshadowing themselves during the silent anticipa- 
tions of that night. 

We cannot understand the mysteries of the divine 
and human natures in Christ. All we know is that 
the human nature was such as ours, with all its capa- 
city for suffering pain ; and that, having lived our life 
here, God knows, from his own sufferings, to pity 
man : — also, that the Divinity was there with its great- 
ness and power ; and doubtless, too. with such a keen- 
ness in all the intellectual and emotional sensations 
in this suffering, as our minds can never comprehend, 
and our hearts can never know. It was so in all the 
life of Christ ; his intellect, his emotions, not ours but 



Gethsemane. 361 

ours sublimed and passing off into those of the God, 
though still having their home here on earth. How 
far all this might work concentrated horrors — infinite 
in extent, — into these few'hours of time at Gethsemane 
and into these anticipations, and into the sufferings 
when they really came, who can tell? " The spirit ol 
a man may bear his infirmities, but a wounded spirit. 
who can bear it V If so with man, how was it with 
Christ ! 

Across the valley of Jehoshaphat, and somewhere 
on the slopes of Olivet, was a garden, Gethsemane-' by 
name, which he had been in the habit of frequenting 
with his disciples ;f and to this place they now as- 
cended ; the hushed noises of the city, and of the 
multitudes who were fast sinking into repose, scarcely 
reaching that retired spot. The Messiah felt the 
need of prayer — of communion with the Father, and 
of strengthening for the coming hours, in which his 
human nature would be so fearfully tried. Having 
reached Gethsemane, he said to the disciples, " Pray 
that ye enter not into temptation ;" and then taking 
Peter, and James, and John, he went with them fur- 
ther into the garden apart from the rest. Here, also, 
he left these three, saying, as he did so, " My soul is 
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death :" and he went 
then further, alone, for prayer. He fell on his face ; 
and it was a time of agony such as no human thought 
can ever reach. We know it dimly from his words 
of prayer, " Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass 
from me ;" " take away this cup from me \ r, % yet, with 
the addition, " nevertheless not as I will, but as thou 

8 Meaning " place of olive presses." f John xviii, 2. 

% Matt, xxvi, 39 ; Mark xiv, 86. 

16 



362 LlFE-SCENEg FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

wilt." The fearfulness of the struggle in him is only 
shadowed to us ; for the reality cannot be reached by 
words. " Sorrowful, even unto death" and that in 
Christ ! in him who had come* to suffer, and to redeem 
the world by suffering this death, and had predicted it 
frequently, and had advanced steadily towards it, but 
now involved in horror so great that, for a moment, 
it had the mastery. What must the agony in that 
prayer have been ; even the Divine nature borne 
down, as if dissolution were near ! What a depth of 
horror is dimly revealed to us ! But, " not as I will, 
but as thou wilt m " and with those words the fierce- 
ness of that almost mortal anguish passed away. 

The prayer was brief; for such agony could not be 
endured by any human nature long ; and he came 
back to where the three disciples had been left. 
They were asleep. How different their quiet rest, 
their unconsciousness, the relaxed limbs and the 
breathing of their deep repose, from the agony that 
had just been almost crushing him, and which still 
made itself felt in all his system ! The night, also, 
so mellow and calm : the light of the full moon over 
the hushed landscape, and the soft music of the night- 
ingales harmonizing with all else, made it a scene of 
perfect midnight repose ; but all this — the mellow- 
ness, the repose, the nightingales' song, — all jarring 
now terribly on a nature so horrified and just now so 
wildly tossed with agony, — almost so abandoned, 
seemingly, of heaven and earth. 

He awoke the disciples with words of half reproach, 
but which, in his gentle nature, were qualified imme- 
diately with an apology for them : " What ! could ye 
• not watch with me one hour ? Watch and pray that 



G-ETHSEMANE. • 363 

ye enter not into temptation : the spirit indeed is 
willing, but the flesh is weak."* 

He left them a second time, retiring once more for 
prayer ; and the convulsion of anguish again passed 
over him, but modified by an entire resignation to 
the will of God. " my Father, if this cup may not 
pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be 
:lone. ; ' The horror that seemed as of a divinity per- 
ishing, " my soul sorrowful unto death/" must have 
been indeed frightful beyond any but infinite power 
to understand. 

He came back again to the three disciples, and 
found them, as before, in a deep and quiet sleep ; for 
it was late now, and rt their eyes were heavy.' 7 Again, 
in strong contrast to his own feelings, was that hush 
in all the scene ; as if nature might be almost in 
mockery of its Master : the world in its perfectness of 
repose, appearing to have shut him out ; to be closed 
against him abandoned in his agony : and yet it was 
to ransom its millions, and bring them to salvation, 
that he was about to suffer. He spoke to the disciples 
again ; but they answered him confusedly and only 
half aroused : and he left them once more for his re- 
tirement and prayer . There was a strange restlessness 
in the Messiah that night ; a part of the terrible nerv- 
ous strain upon his system, and of the agitations of 
his internal being : — how different from his former 
long seasons of quiet communion with God on the 
mountains of Galilee. These were briefer, broken 
times of prayer ; with an agitation tnat could not long 
admit of quiet,, even in such communion. For the 
prayer itself was a convulsion : and, during this 

* Matt, xx vi, 41. 



364 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

third one, a sweat of blood broke out upon him, the 
bloody perspiration falling in great drops to the 
ground.* In that agony, which brought the blood 
thus oozing from his face and body, an angel came to 
his side, to sustain and comfort him. 

Mortal man may never fathom the depth of that 
agony in Gethsemane. 

He came a third time to his disciples ; and told 
them that the hour was now at hand . 

This was, indeed, soon apparent, even to their 
half-aroused consciousness ; for torches and lanterns 
were now seen gleaming amid the garden-alleys on 
Olivet ; and voices, coming nearer, were heard ; and, 
very soon, the company in Gethsemane were all sur- 
rounded by a rude multitude armed with swords and 
staves. Judas came forward : 

" Hail, Master !" and he kissed him. 

The others pressed around. 

" Whom seek ye ?" the Messiah asked. 

" Jesus of Nazareth." 

"lam he," he said, and faced them calmly ; and, 
as he did so, the company shrunk down before him ; 
for there was a strange power in that Presence even 
there, although his greatest humiliations were begun. 
Urged on, however, by their leaders, the armed men 

s Luke xxii, 44. Dr. Mead, from Galen, observes ; Contingere 
interdum p>;roR, ex raulto ant fervido spiritu adeo dilatari, ut 
etiam e^e ;t sanguis per eos, fiatque sudor sanguineus: It happens 
sometimes ll>at, by great or deep mental agitation, the pores are so much 
dilated that blood issues from them, and there is a bloody sweat. (Quoted 
from Clarke's Commentary.) — "An interesting example of a sweat 
of blood, under circumstances of strong terror, accompanied by loss 
of speech, is given in an article by Dr. Schneider in Casper's 
Wothenschrift for 1848, and cited in the Medical Gazette for that 
year."— Alford. 



Hall of Caiaphas. 365 

seized him, and a scene of confusion for a little while 
ensued. Peter made resistance, and a servant of the 
high priest was maimed ; but Christ healed the man, 
with a reproof to his follower for the act : " Put up 
thy sword ; the cup that my Father giveth me to 
drink, shall I not drink it?"* He said also to Peter, 
" Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, 
and he will presently give me more than twelve le- 
gions of angels ? But how then shall the Scriptures 
be fulfilled that thus it must be. "t He spoke further 
to the leaders, asking why they had. come as against 
a thief with swords and staves ? He asked no favors 
of them for himself ; but for his disciples, that they 
might be allowed to depart uninjured. They pro- 
ceeded immediately to bind him,| and then led him 
away. The disciples fled.§ 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

HALL OF CAIAPHAS. 

The Pharisees and chief priests and rulers had, so 
far, succeeded. It was night ; and the millions at 
the passover, having eaten the paschal supper, were 
now asleep. A comparative quiet reigned in Jerusa- 
lem and through its suburbs and on Olivet, as the 
armed men, having the Messiah now bound in their 
charge, passed back into the city, and threaded its 

• John xviii, 11. t Matt, xxvi, 53, 54. 

% John xviii, 8, 12. § Mark xiv, 50. 



366 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

streets. They were conducted first to the bouse of 
Annas. This individual, called also Ananus. had been 
high priest himself, and was yet styled such as a 
token of respect : he was father-in-law to Caiaphas. 
at present iu the high priesthood, and father also of 
Eleazar, late high priest ; and was, moreover, at this 
time, Sagan or prefect to the priests, an office of 
which there is frequent mention among the Rabbins* 
His age and his former and present offices, gave his 
opinions weight ; and the proceedings of this night, 
all so irregular in their character, needed every ex- 
traneous aid that could be procured, in order to 
shield the perpetrators. For, in the morning, when 
the multitudes would wake up, and receive infor- 
mation of these acts during the night, there would 
be a great excitement, and many inquiries would 
be started tending to a tumult, against all which 
they desired to be able immediately to present the 
highest Jewish authority. Annas had no power as 
a judge : and any meeting at his house would be an 
informal one ; but it was important to be able to 
quote his opinion, in a decided manner, before the 
populace. 

From his house they proceeded very soon to the 
palace of Caiaphas himself. The Sanhedrim, in the 
meantime, had been collecting there ; and the Messiah, 
still bound, was now in the presence of his judges, 
evidently met, not for trial, but for condemnation. 
The case had been already, in their minds, fully pre- 
judged. This w r as not, however, a formal sitting of 
the Sanhedrim, for such, according to their laws, 
could not be held by night, and no trial could regu- 

9 Lightfoot, in loco. 



Hall of Caiaphas. 367 

larly be commenced at night ; and as these judges 
would, in the morning, be on trial themselves in the 
minds of the people, it was necessary to keep up the 
appearance of adhering to the forms of law. All 
the while, over the Sanhedrim hung the dread of the 
populace and of tumults, and of thus being foiled at 
last. They planned that, when their decision should 
come before the people it should come suddenly, and 
should be a decision adapted to stamp such black in- 
famy upon the accused as would astound and stupefy 
the hearers, until the governor's quickly-added judg- 
ment should put the whole matter into the hands of 
the military, and not only defy resistance from the 
multitudes, but also save the Sanhedrim from the 
consequences of possible tumult by having made it a 
governmental affair. Therefore the object was to 
have now a secret examination, in order that all pre- 
parations might be made for a quick decision in the 
formal, regular meeting, which the Sanhedrim would 
afterwards have, at earliest dawn. Although it was 
so late at night, yet the public were excluded from 
the house of Caiaphas ; for Peter, following on, was 
passed in through the gates of entrance only at the 
request of John, who was known to the high priest, 
and who spoke to the woman doing the duty of 
porter j* — that office being sometimes occupied in 
Judea by women. f 

So now they were before each other, the Messiah 
standing bound, with guards on either side, the San- 
hedrim sitting, gloating their eyes on him, whom they 
felt to be, at last, within their power, and were de- 
termined to make their victim. 

° John xviii, 16. f Lightfoot. 



368 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

The eastern house described in a former chapter, 
was of the better kind ; but, in families of very great 
wealth, or consequence, the structures took yet larger 
proportions ; and such was, doubtless, the house of 
Caiaphas used on this occasion. These had an outer 
and inner gate at the archway leading from the 
street ; while also, at one side of their large court, 
and reached by a few steps of ascent, was a reception 
room open toward the court ; which room, being fur- 
nished with cushioned divans or platforms, adjoining 
the walls, was a luxurious resting-place, convenient 
also for business when there was occasion. The writer 
of this is describing from what he himself saw in Da- 
mascus ; and fashions in those countries seldom 
change. The walls around the court in such houses 
in Damascus are faced with variously colored stones, 
arranged in patterns, and are also ornamented with 
inscriptions from religious books, or from the maxims 
of the wise. 

It is doubtless in such a hall, at the high-priest's 
palace, that this trial was held ; the court being fill- 
ed with soldiers and attendants, and the gates closed 
against intruders. Torches were flaring from the 
walls or columns of the audience room, and a strong 
light fell upon the scene ; — upon the calm and noblo 
countenance in the midst, on which all eyes were 
now fixed ; and upon the keen, wrathful faces around, 
now lit up by triumph, but still marked with lines of 
anxiety and fear. Did he see a friendly eye in all 
that crowd ? Scarcely ; but, if friends were there, 
they did not dare to speak. 

And so the examination began : false, suborned 
witnesses there ; judges false to truth and right there ; 



Hall of Caiaphas. 369 

and, to the Messiah, the bitterest of all things there, 
a favored, honored disciple also false. But this last 
falseness was not yet shown. 

The high-priest commenced with asking the Mes- 
siah about his disciples and his doctrines, hoping to 
find some admissions made, by which he might bring 
charges of a weighty character ; but there were none. 
There was a sublime dignity in the Saviour as he 
stood and answered. His case was clearly prejudged \ 
his judges were fixed in purpose ; and he knew it 
all : they were trying to entangle him by his admis- 
sions ; there were men there, also, ready for personal 
violence; and he saw all of this. But he answered, 
calmly, and with dignity : "I spake openly to the 
world ; I ever taught in the synagogues and in the 
temple, whither the Jews always resort ; and in secret 
have I said nothing, why askest thou me ? Ask them 
that heard me, what I have said unto them : behold 
they know what I said." This challenge to a fair ex- 
amination by witnesses was met by gross violence 
from one of the officers, who struck the Saviour with 
the palm of his hand, with the sharp question : — ■ 
" Answerest thou the high-priest so ?" It was calmly 
borne. " If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the 
evil ; but if well, why smitest thou me."* 

The Messiah had been asking for only what was 
customary in Jewish trials : — or rather, for less than 
that : for he asked but a candid examination of those 
who had listened to his teachings ; while it was cus- 
tomary in these trials to begin with the testimony for 
the accused, giving the witnesses a fair hearing, and 
encouraging them to speak for the defence. Instead 

* John xviii, 19-23. 

*16 



3T0 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

of that, the Sanhedrim now began with seeking for 
false witnesses against him : but they sought in Vain. 
Many were offered, but their evidence was contradic- 
tory and none of it of a sufficiently damnatory kind.* 
At last came two, who declared that they had heard 
him say, " I am able to destroy the temple of God and 
to build it in three days ;"t and at their testimony the 
eyes of the judges glistened : for here was a charge 
that would work against him before all the people, 
holding, as they did, their temple in such reverence, 
and feeling such pride in its greatness. However, 
even in this charge the witnesses were not agreed. 
The Saviour did not reply to them. 

At last, the high priest, wearied with the impotence 
of his efforts, so far, and out of patience, determined 
to force a crisis ; and to have a decided answer, in a 
matter that he believed would produce condemnation 
in the minds of all men, people as well as Sanhedrim : 
and to insure success, he commenced with their most 
solemn form' of adjuration or oath. 

" I adjure thee by the living God," he said, " that thou 
tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God :"J 
— a form of demand which put the adjured person un- 
der the curse of the law, unless he should make reply : 
the answer so returned being considered under oath, 
whose falsity was accounted perjuiy.§ The interest of 
the assembly was wrought up to the highest. Men 
leaned forward, and a deep silence fell upon that room. 
The Messiah had hitherto refused to answer the false 
and frivolous charges brought l| before judges so re- 
solved to condemn : but he now replied to him, 

P Matt, xxvi, 59-60. f lb. 61. J lb. 6?T~ 

§ Tholuck in loco. \\ Matt, xxvi, 62. 



Hall of Caiaphas. 371 

" Thou hast said," [a common form, meaning " yes, it 
is so':"] nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall 
ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of 
power and coming in the clouds of heaven."* 

— It was enough. They had succeeded : and a wild 
scene of triumph, execration, rage and violence quickly 
ensued. The high priest rent his robes, crying out, 

" He hath spoken blasphemies : what further need 
have we of witnesses ? Behold ye have heard his blas- 
phemy : what think ye ?" 

" He is guilty of death ;" was shouted from all parts 
of the hall : and they now rushed upon him, spit in his 
face, buffeted him, and striking him with the palms of 
their hands, asked, scornfully and tauntingly, "Proph- 
ecy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee ?"t 
even the servants joined in these insults and taunts. £ 

Greatness is never so great, as when calmly sus- 
taining itself amid insults and injuries ; truth never 
so grand as when it stands unflinchingly, unmoved 
amid danger : and so the Messiah had stood through- 
out this trial, — so continued to the last. He had 
been sublime often in his powerful teachings, and in 
his omnipotence, when he stayed nature's laws, and 
bade all diseases relax their hold, and the dead to 
live ; but sublimer still he was in his mildness and 
forgiveness among all these his enemies, offering him 
insults and violence, and thirsting for his blood. 

One thing must come out clearly to our minds in 
this matter ; and that is, the decisive manner in which 
he asserted his Godship here ; and in which he allow- 
ed them to act upon that his claim, to the last. The 
Sanhedrim were condemning him on such a claim ; 

* Matt, xxvi, 64. f lb. 65-68. % Mark xiv, 65~ 



372 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

there was no retracting or denying, on his part. 
They understood him clearly and fully, and charged 
him with blasphemy, in making himself God ; and 
had pronounced him guilty of death for it. If he 
meant to assert no such title, it was easy to say so, and 
to disabuse their minds, and, at least, deprive them of 
all excuse in their meditated deed of death ; but he 
put in not one word to that effect. 

Indeed, through all his ministry, that claim had 
been his great offence in their eyes. They had been 
willing to acknowledge him as a prophet ; but he had 
again and again, publicly and fully asserted for him- 
self more than that, even the Godship and its authori- 
ty and rights. A claim like that, and indeed any 
remote inclination to it, was, in the eye of the Jewish 
law, the most awful crime that could be committed, — 
indeed an unpardonable one. We have seen how 
Moses and Aaron were shut off by Jehovah himself 
from entering the Promised Land, simply for arro- 
gating to themselves, in a momentary excitement, 
divine authority in performing a miracle ; and so 
rigidly and severely was every sin of blasphemy re- 
garded in the Jewish law, that each one hearing 
words of this nature was bound to rend- his clothes 
on the spot, as a sign of abhorrence. The Talmuds 
also say, respecting testimony to such language : 
11 When witnesses speak out a blasphemy which they 
have heard, then all hearing the blasphemy arc 
bound to rend their garments.' 7 * This law of blas- 
phemy, " as it was understood among the Jews, ex- 
tended not only to the effence of impiously using the 
name of the Supreme Being, but to every usurpation 

* Lightfoot. 



Hall op Caiaphas. 373 

of his authority, or arrogation by a created being of 
the honor and power belonging to him alone. Like 
the crime of treason among men, its essence consisted 
in acknowledging or setting up the authority of an- 
other sovereign than one's own, or invading the power 
belonging exclusively to him. 77 * 

Often had the Messiah startled his audiences by 
his claims either to God's attributes or to the God- 
head itself ; but the majesty and the mightiness of * 
the power clearly inherent in him had borne down 
opposition ; and the clamors raised at his seeming 
assumptions were lost in the loud shouts by men 
healed of all diseases, and by their friends ; joy, love, 
gratitude, triumphing at the time. Once, however, 
they took up stones to stone him, " for blasphemy, 77 
they said ; " and because that thou being a man mak- 
est thyself God.' 7 

Here now, before the Sanhedrim ; charged with 
the same thing ; condemned to death for it ; vioence 
used ; that charge of blasphemy evidently one that 
was to go out officially from this hall, and to be re- 
peated before the multitudes of the Passover ; — he 
made no disclaimer, but allowed the record of his 
claims to the Godhead to stand. And so it remains ; 
— condemned for making himself God, and executed 
for it, he admitting the charge, and, without protest 
of error on their part, allowing them to proceed. f 

** J. Pickering, LL.D. See also Lev. xxiii, 16 ; Deut. xjii. 

f Jewish writers all say, that, admitting the Gospel historians 
to be true, this must be the view of the case. Mr. Jos. Salvador, a 
physician and learned Jew of Paris, in a recent work, " Histoire des 
Institutions de Mdise et du Peuple Hebreu," says, "But Jesus, in pre- 
senting new theories, and giving new forms to those already pro- 
mulgated, speaks of himself as God." In a note he adds : "The 



374 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

In the large court adjoining this hall, watching all 
these proceedings with an agitated, and often failing 
heart, was a disciple, ardent, quick, and yet weak ; — 
he who had said impetuously at the supper, " Though 
all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I 
never be offended." " Though I should die with thee, 
yet will I not deny thee." "I am ready to go with 
thee, both into prison and to death." The disciples 
had fled when their Master was^ seized at Gethsemane, 
but Peter and John had followed the crowd in their 
midnight progress along the streets ; and John, having 
influence at the high priest's house, had got Peter ad- 
mitted within the precincts. In the court, at some 
suitable spot, a fire had been built ; for the night was 
cold : and, as Peter sat there among the soldiers, peer- 
ing timidly but anxiously around, he was charged by 
some one of the female attendants with having been 
also with Christ. He denied it : " Woman I know 
him not "* — It was a terrible fall from the high pro- 
fessions that he had made, and from his vaunted readi- 
ness to die with Christ : his impulsiveness wanted the 
calm and immovable courage of John, which led this 
loving disciple afterwards to stand by the cross, and 
to show his affection- for his Master even there. Peter 
was, in after times, one of the boldest of Christian 
ministers, and fully redeemed himself from the con- 



expression ' Son of God ' was in common use among the Jews, to 
designate, a man of remarkable wisdom and piety. It was not in 
this sense that Jesus Christ used it." In another note, respecting 
the rending of his garments by Caiaphas, he adds, " I repeat that 
the expression ' Son of God' includes here the idea of God himself : 
the fact is already established and all the subsequent events con- 
firm it." 

** Luke xxii, 57. 



Hall of Gaiaphas. 375 

tempt forced on us by this conduct in the court, as we 
see him, shrinking, denying, timid and false. He 
shrunk away, soon, from the brightness of the fire ; and 
approached the arched way ; but was there recognized 
by the woman keeping the gate, who said, " This fel- 
low was also with Jesus of Nazareth." — One false 
step ; and now another : for he declared, with an 
oath, " I do not know the man." 

The scene in the hall itself, during these denials by 
the disciple, had become, as we have seen, tumultuous, 
with outcries and wrath and violence. Peter saw his 
Master maltreated, bound as the latter was, and incapa- 
ble of resistance, if there had been any disposition to re- 
sist, which there was not : he saw the rush of the crowd 
in that more elevated place of judgment : he heard 
their cries of execration and of abhorrence, affected or 
real ; saw that face, so glorious even still in its majesty 
of kindness and its forgivingness, spit upon and buffeted ; 
he witnessed the madness that ruled there ; and saw 
the great triumph that lighted up the faces of the high 
priest and other leaders, as they felt that their enemy 
was now securely entangled among their toils, and 
could not escape. As the torches threw their ruddy 
light upon all the scene, and portions of the tumultu- 
ous crowd were thrown into strong relief, or retiring 
into the shadows, were succeeded by others, the faces 
bore still the same expression of wrath, and malignity, 
and triumph ; — among them only that one face show- 
ing benevolence, and gentleness, and kindness. Peter 
saw and heard all ;• too anxious for his Master not 
to be closely observant, yet shrinking from being him- 
self observed. 

There came, at last, a lull \ in the. noises ; for morn- 



376 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ing was now approaching, and the rulers, having 
done their deeds of darkness to their satisfaction, 
were separating, in order to prepare for the more 
formal meeting of the Sanhedrim, which must be held 
at the earliest hour of the day. Peter lingered still. 
His heart had failed him in his temptation, — that 
which Christ had cautioned him to pray against— and 
he despised himself for the weakness which he felt 
was still on him : but he could not bring himself to 
leave the place ; and he hung about the court in a 
strange tumult in his heart, affection, reverence, anx- 
iety, fear. Probably his Master, in some of the lat- 
ter scenes, had noticed the disciple's face filled with 
affection and yet fright ; and had also met Peter's 
eyes among the crowd. — Another temptation to the 
disciple, and he cowered under it still more ; his 
heart entirely giving away, till he seemed to be trans- 
formed into another man. A person said to him, 
u Surely thou art one of them : for thou art a Gali- 
lean, and thy speech betrayeth thee ;" — for the Gali- 
leans interchanged some sounds in their language so 
as to make some of their words difficult to be under- 
stood by the people of Judea. He cursed and swore : 
— " I know not the man of whom ye speak." The 
words caught the ear of the Messiah ; and he turned 
and looked on the wretched culprit ; — on that face 
so filled with fright and shame ; — the eyes of the Sa- 
viour expressing compassion mixed with gentle re- 
proach. It was Peter, the boaster that he would die 
with him ; and the cock, now giving warning of ap- 
proaching day, had not crowed twice, before he had 
thrice denied his Lord : — this last time with oaths. 



The Trial before Pilate. 377 

At this look of Christ, the disciple went out, and 
wept bitterly. 

The faint dawn, struggling through the night, and 
coming slowly over Olivet, saw then, in those streets, 
a man convulsed with grief and shame, humbled and 
self-accusing, and filled with remorse : — not much, 
seemingly, in that large city, and this tumultuous 
world ; but yet a sight that angels love to look upon ; 
for, in such penitential feelings, souls are purified and 
saved. 

Peter, afterwards, became strong and brave for his 
Lord, confessing him boldly before rulers, and amid 
direst persecutions : and, it is believed, unflinchingly 
met a martyr's death in his Master's cause. 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE TRIAL BEFORE PILATE. 

The day at last broke fully over Jerusalem ; and 
the people in that region being early-risers, the vast 
multitude in and about the city were soon astir, igno- 
rant yet of the scenes at Caiaphas' house, and think- 
ing with gladness of the occasion before them : for 
the day succeeding the Passover-meal was always 
their high festival day. The whole of the Passover 
season was to be a time of rejoicing .* but this day 
was always given to peculiar ceremonies, and sacri- 
o See Deut. xvi, 10-12. 



378 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

fices for feasting ; and, as it was the sixth day of the 
week, (our Friday,) and the morrow would be the 
Sabbath, — a more solemn time — it seemed to them 
that an unusual enjoyment of festivity was to be 
crowded into this day. 

On this the 15th of Nisau, all the males were bound 
to appear in the court of the temple, bringing with 
them a burnt-offering for their appearance and a 
double peace-offering, one for the solemnity, and one 
for the joy of the times. These offerings were called, 
in their language, Chagigali* a word meaning festival- 
ing or rejoicing ; and were to be a bullock, or sheep, 
(2 Chron. xxx, 24, and xxxv, 7, 8,) quite distinct 
from the sacrifice for the Passover supper, and for a 
different purpose. Part of this-chagigah offering was 
given to the priest, and with the remainder " they 
proceeded to their feastings together, with great mirth 
and rejoicings, according to the manner of that festi- 
val."f This day was also the one from which the fifty 
days to Pentecost were to be numbered ; and (which 
usually added greatly to its joyousness,) it was the 
time when the first fruits of their barley harvest were 
to be presented to God ; before which no one was 
permitted to cut any grain ;X and so this day was 
called a sacred day. The cutting of this first fruit was 
a matter of ceremony. Those who were deputed by 
the Sanhedrim for the ceremony of reaping it went 
forth in the evening of the feast (Chagigah) day ; and 
people flocked with them to see the sight, and also 

° Fiom the verb chagag, to dance, to keep or celebrate a feast by 
dancing. 

f Lightfoot. 

\ Leviticus xxiii, 9-11, 



The Trial before Pilate. 379 

that it might be done with the greater pomp. When 
it grew dusk, he that was about to reap said, a The 
sun is set ; ;; and all said, " Well." He repeated, 
"The sun is set;" and the people replied again, 
" Well i" " With this sickle ;" " Well :" " With this 
sickle ;" u Well :" " In this basket ;" " Well :" " In 
this basket •" " Well." — And if it happened on the 
Sabbath day, he said, " On this Sabbath f " Well :" 
" On this Sabbath f " Well :" " I will Reap ;" " Reap :" 
" I will Reap ;" " Reap." And so, as he said this 
thrice over, they answered to it all, " Well."* Their 
regular Sabbath (as, after sunset, was the case in this 
instance) did not hinder this ceremony ; and, on the 
next day, the sheaf was offered in the temple, after 
which, and not before, the Jewish people might pro- 
ceed .to their harvesting. 

Such, in the regular order of things, would have 
been this Chagigah or great festival day, a time of 
peculiar feasting and rejoicing ; and with the feelings 
suited to it the great multitudes rose on that (Fri- 
day) morning, in the brightness and freshness of the 
dawn. 

But the Sanhedrim had been yet earlier risers ; for 
their work must be quickly done. As the earliest 
morning light crept down into the judgment-hall, and 
the court-yard, and upon the wearied and exhausted 
individuals there, — the Messiah still among them, — the 
members of the Sanhedrim, with the chief priests, and 
elders, and scribest might have been seen gliding to- 
wards the house of Caiaphas, where they were soon 
formed into the regular council prescribed by their 
law. They could now pronounce a legal judgment ; 

* Lightfoot. t Mark xv. 1 ; Luke xxii, 66. 



880 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

and their action was rapid, the way to it having all 
been prepared during the night. The Messiah was 
placed before them. 

11 Art thou the Christ?" they asked. 
" If I tell you, ye will not believe," he replied ; 
81 and if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor 
let me go. Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the 
right hand of the power of God." 

— They were impatient ; for time was pressing ; 
and all cried out as with one voice, 
" Art thou the Son of God?" 
" Ye say that I am :" (the Jewish form; equivalent 
to, « .I am. 51 ) 

u What need we any further witness 1" they cried, 
il for we ourselves have heard his own mouth. "* 
—He was immediately condemned. 
From this he was taken, while it was yet early ,t to 
Pilate's judgment-hall. 

In the meantime, by means of various spreading re- 
ports, the multitudes Were coming to a consciousness 
of these transactions, and they stood appalled ; — their 
senses almost paralyzed by what they heard. Their 
enthusiasm towards the Messiah had been very great. 
All had taken him to be at least a prophet : many 
believed him to be much more than this. The rumor 
of a few days previous, that " the kingdom of heaven 
was shortly to appear," had turned all eyes towards 
him in expectation of something wonderful in which 
he was to be the great and glorious leader : and they 
had conversed about it among themselves, until curi- 
osity; if not enthusiastic, had highest power. They 
remembered also the scenes in the temple ; his majesty 
» Luke xxii, 66-71. f John xviii, 28. 



The Trial before Pilate. 381 

of appearance there ; his teachings, and the force 
of his words ; his countenance, so grand in its 
changing expressions, as he hurled the merited woes 
upon Pharisees and Scribes ; they remembered his 
healings in the temple, and the general joy caught 
from the healed men ; — the hosannas shouted out, and 
caught up again, and repeated, till the temple courts 
were filled with the sounds of glorifying him as God ; 
and the scenes on the descent of Olivet, where the 
throngs were spreading their garments in his way, 
and hailing him as king, and more than king — " Ho- 
sanna," " Save, Lord, we beseech thee." Those among 
the multitudes who had not witnessed these things 
had heard them repeated in their ears so often, and 
with so much of the eastern enthusiasm of manner, 
that they had caught the same feeling : — and now ! 
Now the rumor went, that he had been condemned, 
at a formal meeting of the Sanhedrim, for blasphemy ; 
that witnesses had sworn to his saying that he would 
destroy their temple ; that he had been sentenced to 
death, and was at present before the Eoman governor, 
whither their rulers had taken him, in order to have 
the sentence confirmed ! 

Those of the multitudes who hastened towards the 
judgment-seat of Pilate, found there that the rumor was 
true ; and found the Roman soldiers by the gates and 
in the judgment hall. The great Roman power had 
hemmed him in on every side. A shudder, as if their 
own dissolution were at hand, crept through the 
crowds ; among whom, however, the agents of the 
Sanhedrim were now also at work, infusing doubts, 
and uttering anathemas against him whom the rulers 
had condemned for blasphemy. 



382 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

Pilate is described by Philo, a learned Jewish 
writer* of that age, as a man " with a nature inflexi- 
ble and implacable in its arrogance :" he had been 
appointed Procurator of Judea, a. d. 26, and had 
made himself odious to the Jews by his cruelty and 
savage nature, a specimen of which is given in Luke 
xiii, 1. After ruling for ten years, being accused by 
the Jews before the Governor-general in Syria, he 
was deposed and sent to Rome to answer the charges; 
whence he was banished to Yienne, where he is said 
to have died by his own hands. 

Before this man,the Messiah, still bound, now stood 
for trial, his accusers, who were the whole Sanhe- 
drim, having followed him and being now there also 
with their charges and their fully settled plans. 

Judgment among the Romans was always public, 
and sub dio ; (in the open air ;) and, in order to make 
their decrees more solemn, officers of high rank took 
with them a tesselated pavement (in Heb. Gabbatha, 
John xix, 13,) which was placed on an elevated spot : 
on this pavement was put the Bema or judgment 
seat ; and on this the judge took his place, when a 
trial was about to be commenced. This was, in the 
present case, in front of the Governor's palace, and 
about it, the elders were now standing for accusation : 
but they refused to enter the palace itself, that being 
a Gentile's residence, entering which would defile 
them till evening, and prevent their joining in the 
Chagigah ceremonies on that day.t Pilate, however, 

* Born in Alexandria, where he wrote about the year A. D. 40. 

•j- The reader will observe that thi3 removes the seeming diffi- 
culty in John xviii, 28, which has sometimes puzzled commenta- 
tors. The passover mentioned there must have been the Chagigah, 
eaten during the day, and from which any defilement in the morn- 



The Trial before Pilate. 383 

could take the accused person within the palace for 
private examination there. The hall, back of the 
judgment-seat, had its guard of soldiers and officers ; 
and the Governor had also his officers at the Bema, 
where he took his seat. 

Pilate, according to the Roman legal usage, de- 
manded of the accusers what charges they had to 
bring : but they tried to evade the question, and to 
see what their own authority could effect. 

" If he were not a malefactor, we would not have 
delivered him up unto thee," they said. The Gover- 
nor rejoined with a sneer, 

" Take ye him and judge him according to your 
law :" and they now showed their object : 

" It is not lawful for us to put any man. to death."* 

He saw their purpose : and saw the calm and digni- 
fied face before him, the noble expression of features! 
the grandeur even yet marked upon that brow, How 
unlike a culprit ! How strange that such a person 
should be brought before him as a malefactor to be 
put to death ! He looked on the countenances of the 
crowd of accusers, malignant amid all their attempts 
at hypocrisy ; fierce, though under the assumptions of 
rank and justice : wrathful in their very first words be- 
fore him ; and lighted up with eagerness for revenge. 
They were dark, scowling faces, though their owners 
stood in robes of office around the bound individual 

ing would have debarred them. Such defilement continuing only 
till sunset, could not exclude them from any religious duty aftej 
eunset ; but they wanted to share the Chagigah feast. The whole 
seven days' feast of unleavened bread was often called the Pass 
over, (as in Josephus, Belli, 1, §3, also Ant. xi, 4. §8;) and In 
2 Chron. xxxv, 7, 8, bullocks are called the Passover offerings. 
--' John xviii, 28-31. 



384 Life-scenes from the Fouii Gospels. 

before him, whose features expressed, even then, only 
benignity and kindness, mingled with calmness and 
resignation. 

He again demanded of them an accusation, and they 
now brought forward a political charge, " "We found 
this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to 
give tribute unto -Csesar, saying that he himself is 
Christ, a king."* The Governor gazed at him, and 
felt a wish for a private interview : he would not have 
such a person maligned helplessly by those hypocritical 
men. So Pilate withdrew to the hall in the rear, and 
had Christ brought there to him. 

" Art thou the king of the Jews ?" he asked. The 
Messiah did not answer to this, but himself put the 
a question, 

" Sayest thou this thing thyself, or did others tell it 
thee of me ?" — The reply to that was indignant, 

lt Am I a Jew ? — Thine own nation and the chief 
priests have delivered thee to me : what hast thou 
done ?" The Messiah replied : 

" My kingdom is not of this world : then would my 
servants fight that I should not be delivered to the 
Jews :t but now is my kingdom not from hence." 

" Art thou a king, then ?" 

" Thou sayest that I am a king [equivalent to Yes, 
I am a king.] To this end was I born, and for this 
came I into the world, that I should bear witness to 
the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my 



s Luke xxiii, 2. 

+ It is observable that here also the distinction is kept up between 
the people and the rulers, the latter obviously meant by the word 
Jews , it ic well to bear it in mind in the further readiog of Jobn 
respecting the trial and crucifixion. 



The Trial before Pilate. 385 

"What is truth?" said Pilate, a sceptic probably 
as regards all truth, as a Roman courtier might well 
be ; and still more so, surrounded as he was with such 
hypocritical faces as were those of the accusers ; for he 
had immediately seen that " for envy " they had deliv- 
ered Christ.* 

He did not wait for an answer to his question, but 
went out before the expectant crowds, who were eager 
for his return. The Sanhedrim had felt that there 
was good reason to dread such an interview : and 
they stood now, with ill-disguised anxiety on their 
faces, and in alarm. Pilate's words confirmed their 
fears. 

" I find no fault in him at all,"t Filled now with 
open fierceness, they pressed warmly once more the 
accusation, which they believed must ultimately alarm 
the Governor. 

" He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all 
Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. ;: J — From 
Galilee ! thought Pilate : and he was glad ; for it 
would give him an opportunity to throw the trouble 
and the odium that might arise from this trial on 
Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, who was now in Jerusalem. 
He probably also expected some gratification of spite 
in the perplexity it would occasion Herod : for these 
two governors were at enmity at this time. He there- 
fore sent the Messiah to Herod, who was pleased ; for 
now, at last, this ruler had an opportunity of seeing 
one of whom he had so often heard ; and rumors of 
whose miracles were so astonishing that he had even 
taken him to be John risen from the dead. He hoped 
now to see some miracle performed. 

% Matt, xxvii, 18. f John xvii, 38. J Luke xxiii, 5. 

17 



386 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

Before this monster of lust and cruelty, the Messiah 
was now standing : the accusers having accompanied 
him there. They might hope for better success before 
such a mixture of meanness, and weakness and barbar-* 
ity, as Herod had shown himself to be in the case of 
the Baptist : and they now urged their accusation with 
new vehemence ; while the Tetrarch himself put Ques- 
tion after question, with greater and greater bitter- 
ness and savage feeling, as he found himself unan- 
swered in any one of .them. The Saviour opposed to 
the contemptible ruler and his insolent questions, as he 
had previously done to his accusers before Pilate * 
only the calm dignity of silence ; until the Tetrarch, 
irritated by receiving no reply, turned on him his sol- 
diers, who, with the ruler, " set him at naught, and 
mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe :" 
after which he was sent back to Pilate. These mis- 
sions between the two governors brought about a re- 
conciliation between them, and they now became 
friends.f 

The governor of Judea was perplexed ; for on the 
one hand was the Sanhedrim, with the weight of its 
position, and its official condemnation in this case, 
with accusations also of a political nature, which, if 
disregarded, might bring him into trouble ; and, on 
the other, he believed in the Messiah's innocence, and 
saw their motive in all this malignant action j and he 
had been also cautioned by his wife, warned in a 
dream."]: a to have nothing to do with that just man." 
He made an effort at extricating himself, through an 
old custom, which was to yield up to the people's 
clemency on this day, any malefactor whom they 

* Matt, xxvii, 12. f Luke xxiii, 6-12. % Matt, xxvii, 19. 



The Trial before Pilate. 387 

might demand ; and now, as they were becoming 
clamorous for this favor, a hope sprang up in the 
governor that they might judge differently from their 
■fculers, and might require of him the accused. He 
said to them, 

" Will ye that I release unto you the King of the 
Jews?"* 

The rulers were startled ; but they were not to be 
readily foiled. They immediately mingled with the 
multitude ,f repeating charge after charge against the 
Messiah ; sustaining these with all the authority of 
their office ; appealing to the people's reverence for 
their temple, there in full view ; and using such 
other devices as their malignity could invent ; and 
soon there were symptoms of disapprobation at Pi- 
late's suggestion. There was in prison a notorious 
felon, Barabbas by name, put there for robbery and 
murder, and attempt at sedition ; and from those 
crowds — probably many of them of a base sort, such 
as could sympathize with that culprit — after a while, 
arose a demand : 

" Away with this man, and release unto us Bar- 
abbas.'^ 

" What will ye then that I shall do unto him ye 
call the King of the Jews ?" And they answered with 
the terrific cry, 

" Crucify him !" 

Pilate was horror-struck, and attempted to remon- 
strate : 

" Why, what evil hath he done ?" But the cry was 
only vociferated more fiercely, 

« Mark xv, 9. f Matt, xxvii, 20. % Luke xxiii, 18; 



3S8 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

" Crucify him ! "* 

They were going far beyond their own law, which 
ordered stoning to death, as the severest punishment 
for the greatest crime known among them, namely; 
blasphemy : but this did not satisfy them now. They 
demanded, the most cruel and the most painful of all 
Roman punishments, one exciting such horror among 
the Romans themselves, that Cicero says of it, " Ah 
oculis, auribusque et omni cogitatione hominum remov- 
endum est :"t it should be banished from eyes and ears, 
and even from the very thoughts of men : — so igno- 
minious also, that it was inflicted, as the last mark of 
detestation, on the vilest of people, — the punishment 
of robbers and. murderers, provided, that they were 
slaves ; but if they were free, it was thought too in- 
famous a punishment for such, let their crimes be 
what they might. £ 

One word from the governor, — an order for ac- 
quittal — would have been decisive ; and we may won- 
der that it was not given, when he heard their hor- 
rible demand, especially as he had just said, to them, 
" Behold, I having examined him before you, have 
found no fault in this man touching the things where- 
of ye accuse him : no, nor yet Herod : for I sent you 
to him, and lo nothing worthy of death is done unto 
him : ?? § — but we must remember, not as an exculpa- 
tion, but as one of the facts in the case, that Pilate was 
amenable to Rome, to which their accusations against 
himself, could easily be sent. He thought he would 
try whether their malice might not be satisfied if the 
object of their vengeance should be degraded and 

e Mark xv, 12-14. f In Verrem. J Adam Clarke. 

§ Luke xxiii, 14, la. 



The Trial before Pilate. 389 

punished before their eyes ; his claims of kingship 
being made the badges of his disgrace. He, there- 
fore, had the Messiah scourged ; and delivered him 
into the hands of his soldiers, who platted a crown of 
thorns and put it on his head, and put on him a pur- 
ple robe, and said, " Hail, King of the Jews I" and- 
next struck him with the palms of their hands ; they 
smote him on the head with a reed, and spit upon 
him, and bowed their knees in mock worship ;* and 
Pilate now came out and said, 

" Behold I bring him forth to you that ye may 
know that I find no fault in him." Jesus was led 
before them wearing the crown of thorns and the 
purple robe. Mockery it was, but, even still, there 
was a dignity in his manner which they could not 
tear from him or disguise, and a strange Presence 
recognized by Pilate even there, as if the kingship 
thrust forward in mockery was felt to be actual truth. 
He said to them, 

u Behold the Man!" — and there broke out again 
that fierce demand : 

" Crucify him, crucify him." The governor saw 
that all efforts at conciliation were fruitless ; there 
was now only one shout from them, and that for 
blood ; he looked down on the fierce, and determin- 
ed faces, and saw no relenting there, only malice, and 
now but half-suppressed rage against himself. He 
quailed before what this might effect against himself; 
it would be the easiest and safest thing for him to 
yield. But, even in yielding, he put in a protest : — ■ 
"Take ye him and crucify him ; for I find no fault 
in him. ; ' In their triumph now at success, and at-. 
* John ix, 1-3 ; Mark xv, 18, 19. 



390 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels.. 

tempts at justification, they overshot their mark. 
i; We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, 
because he made himself the Son of God." — The gov- 
ernor was startled and amazed : it was a new aspect 
in the affair ; for hitherto they had been pressing it 
upon him on political grounds. The strange dignity 
of the accused had before impressed him ; — his calm- 
ness, truly like that of a God, while all were raging 
around him for his destruction ; — the majesty which 
no mocking could put down. He went back to the 
hall again, and summoned the Messiah. " Whence 
art thou ?" he said. 

There was no reply. Pilate was urgent for an 
answer, and tried to bring the terrors of his power to 
his aid. 

" Speakest thou not unto me ? Knowest thou not 
that I have power to crucify thee and have power to 
release thee ?" The answer was : 

u Thou couldst have no power against me, except 
it were given thee from above ; therefore, he that de- 
livered me unto thee hath the greater sin." 

Outside, there was a feeling of impatience becom- 
ing strong among the rulers. They dared not come 
to the hall, for that would defile the hypocrites ; but 
these interviews and colloquies in it were always 
subjects to them of distrust and fear. Previously 
they had found their cause suffer from such an exami- 
nation by Pilate ; and now, when lie appeared again 
before them, he made still further efforts for the re- 
lease of Christ. But they had one powerful means 
kept in reserve for extremities, and such an extremity 
seemed now to have come. Of all the Roman empe- 
rors, Tiberius (then ruling) was the most jealous and 



The Trial before Pilate. 391 

implacable ; and, in nis eyes, majestatis crimen omnium 
accusationum complementum est (Tacitus, Ann. iii, 
38 :) " the crime of treason is the climax of all accusa 
tio?is. 7 ' They cried out loudly to Pilate : 

" If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's 
friend : whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh 
against Cassar,"* 

— Thou art not well affected towards Ccesar : 

He resisted no more. They had conquered ; and 
they knew now that, with the threat of accusing the 
governor, whose soul crouched with fear before the 
bloody tyrant, their triumph was secured. 

The governor seated himself on the judgment-seat 
at the tesselated pavement, and the Messiah was 
brought before them once more. He said, 

" Behold your king ;" and there arose a storm of 
wrath, with shouts, 

" Away with him ! away with him !" 

" Shall I crucify your king ?" he asked. 

— They were now mad with rage ; — for they cried, 
the chief priests leading in it, 

" We have no Icing but Ccesar ."t 

The rulers must have felt a thrill of horror in 
their hearts, as the words burst from them ; for it 
had always been their boast that they had no king 
but God, and would acknowledge no other ; and this 
they had always put forward as their grounds of re- 
sistance to the Eoman power and its claims. But 
madness filled them now. Their words were blasphe- 
my and treason against God, according to all that they 
had ever professed before : they were making them- 
selves contemptible in their own eyes and abhorrent to 
* John xix, 4-12. f John xix, 13-16. 



392 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

nil the nation ; and faces in the multitude there 
showed horror at the cry ; but there was no open 
protest ; and the blasphemy and treason stand yet 
against the rulers in the madness of that hour. 

Pilate, on the judgment-seat, called for water, and 
performed a significant act. He washed his hands, 
publicly, so that all might see it, and declared before 
them, " I am innocent of the blood of this just man : 
see ye to it." An answering cry came from the whole 
assembly there ; and it contains, under the circum- 
stances, the most frightful words ever uttered by hu- 
man lips : " His blood be on us and on our children /"* 

" Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they re- 
quired, "t He had Barabbas released then, and deliv- 
ered into their hands. 

What were the feelings of the multitudes in Jerusa- 
lem, all this while ? — the people who had cried their 
hosarmas, the admiring throngs that had gazed on his 
miracles, the men cured, the blind men of Siloam and 
of Jericho, and the halt and blind healed in the tem- 
ple. Lazarus, the disciples, where were they? was 
there no voice from any one of them ? There must 
have been a sickening sensation throughout the city, a 
feeling that a dark, hellish deed was being done, and 
a resistance in men's hearts to the whole proceeding 
of the Sanhedrim. " Why," the people must have 
thought, " why, the secret stealing upon- the party in 
Gethsemane ? why the night-council ? why the viola- 
tion of all precedents and of all Jewish law ? why this 
indecent haste ?" The hellish malice of the Pharisees 
and chief priests was manifest ; the instigations of the 
crowd to demand Barabbas, a robber and murderer, 
c Matt, xxvii, 25. f Luke xxiii, 24. 



The Trial before Pilate. 393 

and to demand crucifixion as regards Jesus ; their 
goadings on of the unwilling Governor ; — all this was 
too transparent not to be seen through and under- 
stood ; and the hearts of alltrue men must have re- 
coiled from it in horror and disgust. But what could 
they do ? It was now but three hours after sunrise ; 
and, already, Pilate had pronounced the sentence, and 
Jesus was in the hands of the Roman soldiers ; and 
the power of that colossal Roman empire had closed 
around him, and he was hemmed in by it to his death. 
True, it was reported that the Sanhedrim had, in formal 
conclave, condemned him for blasphemy, even on his 
own words before them ; but men, through the city, 
still recoiled with a sickening sensation from the 
whole thing, as a dark, hellish work. Those who 
thought of God's justice, even if they did not believe 
in Christ, trembled ; those who believed in him, felt 
crushed to the earth, and knew the truth of their Mas- 
ter's word, — that a woe was gathering, to burst over 
all their land. 

There was one man among tnem amiost pnrenzied. 
It was Judas. He had probably hoped that there 
would be some way of escape for the Messiah, some 
miracle from him perhaps for his own deliverance : and 
he had scarcely anticipated such an end. He had the 
money : Christ, he had hoped, would escape. Thus he 
had doubtless reasoned : and the Pharisees, he had 
thought, would be doubly overmatched. Therefore, 
the keenest man in all Jerusalem in watching the pro- 
ceedings of the council, and at the Prastorium, was, 
doubtless, this traitor, in whose heart remorse was tak- 
ing its everlasting hold. Now the end had come, and 
with it came recollections and anticipations, and a 



391 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

Tearfulness of horror ; for hell was already lighted up 
in his heart. He saw the flashing of triumph in the 
Pharisees' eyes ; remorse was blazing in a frenzy from 
his own. He hurried to their council, which seems to 
have adjourned from the Praetorium to the temple pre- 
cincts, and entered it with the cry, 

" I have sinned in that I have betrayed the inno- 
cent blood." There was only a cold-blooded, sneer- 
ing answer : 

« What is that to us ? See thou to that." He 
flung down their money, and rushed out. Was the 
woe at the Paschal supper pursuing him ? Had it 
not rung in his ears all the night and all the morn- 
ing ? " Woe unto the pian by whom the Son of man 
was betrayed ; it had been better for that man if he 
had not been born."* Remorse and the woe were 
upon him, and the wretch immediately committed 
suicide by hanging. t 

The Sanhedrim gathered up the -money : it was 
not lawful, they said, to put it into the treasury of the 
temple, as it was the price of blood ; so they bought 
with it a field for burying strangers, and called the 
place " The Field of Blood." 

* Matt, xxvi, 24. f.Matt, xxvii, 5. 



The Crucifixion. 395 

CHAPTER XLI. 

THE CRUCIFIXION. 

Pilate had yielded. As soon as he had discovered 
the motive of the Jewish leaders, il that for envy 
they had delivered him ;"* and saw that they propos- 
ed making himself the instrument of their malice ; 
and moreover saw the greatness of the Messiah, 
under these trying circumstances, "he determined 
to let him go ;"t but his own nature was too pusil- 
lanimous to allow him to hold unflinchingly to the 
right amid dangers to himself ; and at that argw 
menium ad hominem^ at the last, he had withered and 
lost his manhood. We can almost see him, as, in the 
symbolical act, he was washing his hands ; ashamed 
of himself ; trying thus, but unsatisfactorily to his 
own heart, to shake off the responsibility of the con- 
demnation ;. warm in admiration of the wonderful 
being whom he had delivered to the leaders to be 
crucified ; and despising and hating them. What a 
contempt he must have felt for men, who, while so 
instigated by deadly malice, and urging him to cruci- 
fy an innocent person, had yet refused to enter his 
hall, lest they should be defiled by crossing the 
threshold of a Gentile, amd so should be unfitted for 
the religious ceremonies of the day. 

He was glad to see them go at last and vacate his 
premises ; but, as he turned from them, it must have 

« Matt, xxvii, 18. f Acts iii, 13. 



396 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

been with many compunctions as to nis own conduct, 
and a sense of meanness and degradation in himself. 
He felt however that he had obtained one great tri- 
umph over these base men ; and that was, when they 
had given the lie to all their former pretensions, and 
had lowered their pride, and had abjured all that they 
had ever declared sacred and inviolable, and in that 
mad cry from them, " We have no king but Csesar." 

Before they left the Prsetorium, there had been the 
usual prelude to capital punishment among the Ro- 
mans, which was a scourging by whips in the case of 
milder death-penalties ; by the flagella when it was 
to be by crucifixion. Horace terms the latter scourg- 
ings horribilia ; and persons often died under this in- 
fliction alone ;* as well they might, for the lashes to 
the whip used in this case were knotted with bones 
or heavy indented circles of bronze, or terminated 
with hooks. t 

It' was against all Jewish law to examine a cause, 
pass sentence, and put it in execution the same day,J 
but law and usage were nothing to their leaders on 
this occasion. They wanted the life-blood, no matter 
at what cost or how procured. 

The movement from the judgment hall was onward 
towards the place of crucifixion ; the Saviour, as 
was customary on such occasions, bearing his 'cross ; 
though soon, owing to his exhaustion, the soldiers com- 
pelled a man, coming from the country, to assist in 
supporting its weight. The crowds had gathered in 
large numbers ; some of them stupefied, amazed, stun- 
ned, and, all helpless now ; for any resistance, if 

'■■- Jahn's Archaeology. 

f Anthon's Die. of Greek and Ro. Antiquities. \ Jahn. 



The Crucifixion. 397 

they so felt disposed, would be insurrectionary, and 
would only bring on them the quick vengeance of 
Rome : some were exultant and noisy in their demon- 
strations of triumph and joy. As the company moved 
onward to the place of crucifixion, weeping was heard 
in the crowd ; and the Saviour j turned toward the 
sounds. — Sympathy, kindness, commiseration at last, 
and in that company ; people wailing and lamenting 
aloud ! They were women, and their, voices sounded 
strangely among those mixed, discordant noises, where 
tauntings and rcvilings and rejoicings were the gen- 
eral manifestations of feeling. He turned sadly to- 
wards the women : exhaustion and pain showed them- 
selves in his tones : but he thought, even then, more of 
these mourners than of himself. 

" Daughters of Jerusalem," he said, " weep not for 
me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For 
behold the days are coming, in the which they shall 
say, Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never 
bare, and the paps that never gave suck. Then shall 
they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us ; and 
to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in 
a green tree, what shall be done in the dry ?"* 

Once more onward, towards the place of execution ,* 
the crowds half-awed by the solemn words, and by the 
indefinite danger foreshadowed in the language of one 
always so prophet-like ; but the leaders were there 
applying fresh stimulants to rage and to' tauntings and 
obloquy. A Roman officer ; Roman soldiers ; Jesus 
with his burden ; two malefactors also, with their 
crosses, bearing him company, as if an additional deg- 
radation was attempted to be forced upon him by their 

» Luke xxiii, 27-30. 



398 Life-scenes prom the Four Gospels. 

companionship ; the rulers of the Jews still unwearied 
and determined to see the end fully accomplished ; the 
crowds, some awed and silent, some vociferous and in- 
sulting ; the women, their voices of wailing mingling 
with the harsh sounds of bold, fierce men ; — such was 
the company that advanced along the thoroughfares of 
Jerusalem from the Governor's palace to Calvary. 

A spot called Golgotha, signifying " the place of a 
skull," being a slight elevation with its summit in full 
view, was to be the scene of the crucifixion : and they 
soon arrived there ; for it was not far from the Pras- 
torium, and just outside of the city walls. There the 
preparations were quickly made. The garments of 
the person to be executed were always the perquisites 
of the Roman guards ; and those of our Saviour were 
now divided among the quaternion or four soldiers, 
the outer one falling to one of them by lot. The pre- 
parations for nailing him to the cross were soon com- 
pleted. It was customary, in respect to the very hor- 
rible pains suffered in this first act, to give, previously, 
to the individual, a stupefying potion : and such an one 
was now handed to the Messiah : but after tasting it, 
lie refused to drink.* 

He was then nailed to the cross. 

u Father, forgive them," he said, as tney did this, 
"for they know not what they do."t 

The company had been painfully attentive, even 
the most hardened and cruel ; a deep horror, a so- 
lemnity, a shrinking in their nerves, as they heard 
the grating sounds of the nails : a shuddering 
through the crowd ; sobs, and sounds of weeping here 
and there ; and then a shout of derision and scorn, 

«Matt. xvii,, 31. f Luke xxiii, 34. 



The Crucifixion. 399 

with bitter tauntings, drowning all other sounds ; 
such was the scene. What fiends men can be when 
under wicked leaders, and stimulated by hellish pas- 
sions ! and devils seemed to have a terrible power 
there, in that hour of the crucifixion of Christ. The 
cross now had been put in its place, and elevated j 
and it stood there, with its burden bloody from the 
stripes and the nailing, and with its inscription in 
Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, '■ Jesus of Nazareth 
the King of the Jews"* The Jewish leaders had 
requested Pilate to change it to a different form, 
declaring a pretension to be king ; but he refused. 
The chief priests, and scribes, and elders were there, 
leading on -the tauntings : " He saved others ; him- 
self he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let 
him come down from the cross, and we will believe 
him. He trusted in God ; let him deliver him now 
if he will have him ; for he said, I am the Son of 
God." Their action, their language, their feelings 
were hellish : there seemed to be nothing human left 
in them ; and yet these men were the rulers of the 
nation. 

The crowds joined mostly in these cries, and in 
their own peculiar way. They had followed on ; 
some in the interest of the rulers and their creatures, 
some from idle curiosity, some from better motives ; 
but there had doubtless been in many the expectation 
of some great phenomena, — a great miracle, perhaps 
some supernatural effort at release, some struggle by 
that strange power in him for deliverance ; and now 

G Latin was tho official language ; Greek was the one usually- 
spoken in that country hy the learned ; and Hebrew, or rather its 
cognate, Aramean by the common people. 



400 Life-scenes from tiie Four GosrELs. 

that there had been none, they were angered, and 
would feel that there was some revenge due them for 
their disappointment. They tried to have it, led, 
too, as they were by men in authority ; the soldiers 
also, and even the two crucified malefactors, or, at 
least, one of them, joined in their mockings and taunt- 
ing cries. The shouts of the people showed how the 
cunning device of the priests in suborning witnesses 
to say that they had heard him threaten to destroy 
their temple, had succeeded in revolutionizing their 
feelings ; for their cry was, " Ah, thou who destroy- 
est the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thy- 
self, and come down from the cross. "* The priests 
sneered at him, in their own peculiar way, — "He 
saved others ; himself he cannot save." One of the 
malefactors by and by, struck to the heart by the 
strange scene ; — the revilings cast on one so innocent ; 
the gentleness and forgivingness of the sufferer in his 
greatest pains ; — the contrast between the raging, ven- 
omous people and Christ, — rebuked his companion as 
he was saying, " If thou be the Christ, save thyself 
and us." 

" Dost thou not fear God," he said, " seeing that 
thou art in the same condemnation ? And we indeed 
justly ; for we receive the due rewards of our deeds, 
but this man hath done nothing amiss." He added 
to Jesus himself, 

" Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy 
kingdom." 

It was but a simple prayer : it was the first appeal 
ever made to the Cross of Christ ; and it was an- 

e Mark xv, 29. 



The Crucifixion. 401 

swered in kindness : " To-day shalt thou be with me 
in Paradise."* 

There stood near to the cross a group, — a singular 
one it was amid that scene of scoffing, and malice, 
and triumph at Christ's sufferings ; — for the faces 
and actions of these persons gave demonstration how 
deeply they sympathized with the sufferer. They 
were his mother ; her sister, wife of Cleophas ; Mary 
Magdelene j and the faithful John. Best love is ever 
bravest ; and these loved the most. They stood 
there, true to him ; their souls writhing under those 
tauntings, and those scornful, insulting cries. They 
looked towards the cross ; and there they saw the 
marks of agony ; the anguish apparent in his face 
and in the spasms and convulsions of his body ; — that 
face, so gentle and calm, and so God-like always, but 
now also clouded with the pain expressing itself in 
every line and feature ; — the eyes now bloodshot ; — 
the brow and form wounded and bloody ; — the lan- 
guor of exhaustion stealing over the limbs and 
frame. Not one word, however, of complaint from 
him ; his eyes still showed love to them and to all. 
His voice and tone when he spoke, were now, as 
always, in mercy, and kindness and love. 

He addressed them ; but his words were few, in 
consequence of his spasms of agony : 

" Woman, behold thy son !" and to John, 

" Behold thy mother :'" 

Those tones had the marks of pain in them ; but 
yet how true they were to his strong, undying love ! 
John took her from that hour, as his own mother, to 
his home.f 

° Luke xxiii, 39-43. f John xix, 25-27. 



402 Life-scenes from the Four Gosfels 

The hours dragged on ; and the agony increased. 
In one of our best authorities we have the following 
account of the effects of crucifixion : 

" 1. — The position of the body is unnatural, the arras 
being extended back and almost immovable. In case 
of the least motion an extremely painful sensation is 
experienced in the hands and feet,* which are pierced* 
with nails, and the back, which is lacerated with 
stripes. 2. — The nails being driven through the parts 
of the hands and feet which abound in nerves and 
tendons, create the most exquisite anguish. 3. — The 
exposure of his many wounds to the open air brings 
on an inflammation whieh every moment increases 
the poignancy of the suffering. 4. — In those parts of 
the body which are distended or pressed, more blood 
flows through the arteries than can be carried back 
into the veins. The consequence is that a greater 
quantity of blood finds its way from the aorta into 
the head and stomach than would be carried there by 
*a natural and undisturbed circulation. The blood- 
vessels of the head become pressed and swollen, 
which, of course, causes pain and redness of the face. 
The circumstance of the blood being impelled in more 
than ordinary quantities into the stomach, is an un- 
favorable one also, because it is that part of the sys- 
tem which not only admits of the blood being sta- 
tionary, but is peculiarly exposed to mortification. 
The aorta not being at liberty to empty, in a free and 
undisturbed way as formerly, the blood which it re- 

* Gregory of Nazianzan has asserted that one nail only was driven 
through them ; but Cyprian, (De passione,) who had been a personal 
witness to crucifixions, and is, consequently, in this case, a better 
authority, states, on the contrary, that two nails or spikes were 
driven, one through each foot. — Jahris Archeology. 



The Crucifixion. 403 

ceives from the left ventricle of the heart, is unable 
to receive its usual quantity. The blood of the lungs 
is, therefore, unable to find a free circulation. This 
general obstruction extends its effects likewise to the 
right ventricle, and the consequence is an internal ex- 
citement and exertion and anxiety, which are more 
intolerable than the anguish of death itself. All the 
large vessels about the heart, and all the veins and 
arteries in that part of the system, on account of the 
accumulation and pressure of blood, are a source of 
inexpressible misery. 5. — The degree of anguish is 
gradual in its increase, and the person crucified is 
able to live under it, commonly till the third, and 
sometimes even till the seventh day."* 

The group of friends felt all the bitterness of those 
still continued gibes and tauntings, and the wag- 
ging of heads at him, by the passers by ; for the spot 
was at some thoroughfare, probably near the angle 
where the walls of Acra agd of Zion met, and by the 
gate Gcnnath, in the latter. They were themselves a 
marked object ; with their deep sympathy depicted 
in their faces ; and many a look of contempt was di- 
rected at them ; but no violence dared be offered in 
the presence of the Roman officer and his soldiers : 
and the elders and rabble felt too much engrossed 
with their tauntings of Christ to give much time to 
others of less note. Was there not one sentiment of 
compassion in the revilers ? no feeling for the anguish 
shown on that brow and in the convulsed limbs, the 
agony manifesting itself as it shot through all that 
frame? Their words show only malignity, and spite, 
and triumph. 

~- Jabn's Archeology. 



401 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

— But, after a while, as this was going on, every 
one in Jerusalem and in the region about it, became 
conscious of a singular gloom darkening the air and 
settling down over all objects ; becoming deeper and 
deeper; coming silently and enwrapping everything, 
— the city, and temple, and mountains around. Peo- 
ple stopped, and looked at each other in wonder ; and 
presently in alarm : for it was becoming night, al- 
though the time was at full mid-day. The crucifix- 
ion had been at nine o'clock :* it was now twelve ; 
but soon there was no sun to be seen in the sky, only 
the blackness of darkness everywhere. Men groped 
along in uncertainty of motion ; deep horror now in 
every heart. The Chagigah cer monies had been go- 
ing on in the city, and at the temple, and the great 
altar fires were blazing on Moriah with the sacrifices 
there. Very many of the people, it is true, had, from 
early morning, felt uo heart for the festivities of 
this, their great day of rej#icing : for they had been 
stunned by the announcement of the seizure and bind- 
ing, and condemnation of Christ, and by the scenes 
at the Praetorium ; and a sickening sensation had 
crept through them, when they heard of the crucifix- 
ion : but others, deceived by the artful proceedings 
of the Sanhedrim, or callous, or fickle, or unwilling 
to lose the rejoicings that had always made this day 
so gay an one, were proceeding with the Chagigah 
festivity, when this darkness came settling down over 

° Third Lour, (nine o'clock,) according to Mark xv, 25, which 
agrees with Matthew and Luke. The Gospel of John says at the 
sixth hour, (or noon,) which is evidently an error by transcribers ; 
the Greek letter representing six being very similar to that for 
three. In some of the best ancient Greek readings in John also 
we find the third hour. 



The Crucifixion. 405 

their mirth, and substituted for it, horror and alarm. 
They left their feasts untouched : they sat in silence, 
or whispered to each other, or hastened to secret 
places, as if fearful that, m this blackening gloom, 
some mighty Avenger was coming through the air 
ready to strike, — they could not tell where, or whom, 
or how. Some ascended rapidly to the sacred pre- 
cincts of the temple, thinking that perhaps there 
might be more safety or less alarm in that place ; and 
found the priests, with pallid faces, looking, in their 
white dresses about the altar lighted, up by the strong 
glare from its fires, more like unwilling spirits of an 
angry Jehovah aghast at their work, than like paci- 
ficators between God and man, and the ministers of 
joy on this festive day. There was universal horror, 
and a momentarily increasing fear amid these mil- 
lions congregated at Jerusalem. The words of 
Christ to the women, on the way to GoJgotha, were 
spreading among tj,ie crowds, u Daughters of Jerusa- 
lem, weep not for me, but for yourselves and for your 
children," &c. : and people also remembered his fre- 
quent prophecies as to the city and the terrible doom 
it might expect. "Had the time now come?' 7 they 
thought. " Was this the beginning ?" Men sat down, 
covering their faces in the horror that was chilling 
them through ; or stood like statues, as if turned to 
marble in this fear that was paralyzing every faculty : 
women clasped their children to their hearts, and shed 
over them their silent tears, or broke into wailings at 
what seemed to be the doom already arrived. 

All nature was mourning as at some horrible event : 
and all thoughts were turned towards the scenes at 
Golgotha, 1 — the cross, the victim, the deepening ago- 



406 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

nics there. That spot was involved in the darkness, 
as if heaven would not look upon it, and was shroud- 
ing it from all sight ; — or, perhaps, as if heaven was 
sympathizing with the sufferings there, and veiling 
itself in gloom. 

So the hours passed on, in this unnatural and fright- 
ful darkness, until the ninth hour (three o'clock) was 
near at hand. The anguish of Christ had been in- 
creasing, with all the peculiar mental as well as 
bodily distress belonging to that mode of suffering. 
Death was approaching, a death in which all the 
powers are strained into the fullest agony before they 
finally give way. The mind is fearfully affected; 
and the writhings and distortions of the higher, intel- 
lectual nature, form the greatest of the horrors which 
precede the dissolution. 

Such a spasm came now. There was a cry, ex- 
torted by its anguish — 

"Eli! Eli! lama Sabasthani UMy God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me ?" 

Men with hearts steeled against all sympathy, and 
full of malignity, were still about the cross ; and 
they said, — mistaking the words — 

" Let be : let us see whether Elias will come to 
save him." 

The mental spasm, however, was soon over ; and 
the Godlike nature in him had again the supremacy ■ 
but what a horrible darkening there had been to 
bring forth that desponding cry ! 

During these pains, the body is parched by a burn- 
ing sensation ; and to his complaint of thirst now, 
the soldiers filled a sponge with their vinegar, or sour 



The Crucifixion. 407 

wine (their common drink,) and it was handed to 
him on the extremity of a hyssop stalk. 

— The end had come. He said, 

" It is. finished."* — "Father, into thy hands I com- 
mit my spirit."t 

— One cry, a piercing, anguished cry, drawn from 
him by the death agony, and it was over.J The suf- 
ferings had ceased. 

Nature, as if in sympathy, was convulsed. The 
earth shock as if it were in terror : the rocks were 
rent in sunder ; the veil of the temple, hiding the 
holy of holies from the eyes of all but the high priest, 
was rent in twain from top to bottom, as by unseen 
hands ; graves opened of their own accord, and 
bodies of the dead appeared moving about, as though 
the grave were resigning its power, — its dominion 
gone. The centurion who had been superintending 
the execution exclaimed, "Truly this was the Son of 
God."§ A fear had come on all watching there, and 
others joined the officer in the exclamation : they 
smote on their breastsjl and returned to the city, 
fear, sadness, remorse filling their hearts. * The physi- 
cal darkness had now passed away, and light was 
restored to the earth once more.T 

* John xix, 30. f Luke xxiii, 4G. $ Matt, xxvii, 59. 

§ Matt, xxvii, 54. || Luke "xxiii, 48. 

*[[ This darkness was undoubtedly miraculous ; but there was a 
singular case of darkness, from natural, though still unexplained 
causes, on what is called iu New England "The Dark Day," which 
occurred on the 19th of May, 1780. President Dwight, in speak- 
ing of it, says : ' ' Candles were lighted in many houses ; the birds 
were silent and disappeared, and the fowls retired to roost. The 
legislature of Connecticut was then in session at Hartford. A 
very general opinion prevailed that the day of judgment was at 
hand. The House of Representatives beirur unable to transact their 



408 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

The group of friends by the cross had not oeen the 
only sympathizers watching these sad events. There 
were others further off — people true to him still* in 
their hearts, some of whom had followed him from 
Galilee,* but powerless to help. To them the former 
group had retired towards the last of these scenes. 
In addition to their sympathies, there were many very 
sad thoughts among his friends on that day, under- 
standing, very imperfectly as they did, the nature of 
the kingdom which he had come to establish among 
men. Their love for him had given rise to many 
hopes of seeing him aggrandized in the world ; some 
hopes there had also been for themselves ; all such 
hopes were quenched now. 

Life in the malefactors still lingered on : and it was 
customary with the Romans, when this was the case, 
longer than they wished in any sufferer on the cross, 
to hasten death by breaking the bones of the legs with 
a mallet ; or. by plunging a spear into the heart ; or, 
by kindling a fire below, thus to hasten the end by 
suffocation. The day following this would be the 
Jewish Sabbath ; and it was important to have the 
bodies removed before sunset, when their holy day 
would commence : so the soldiers came and broke the 
bones of the malefactors, but there was no necessity 
for this violence on Saviour's body, and it was 

business adjourned. A proposal to adjourn the Council was under 
consideration. "When the opinion of Col. Davenport was asked, he 
answered, ' I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment 
is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause 
for an adjournment ; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty ; 
I wish therefore that candles may be lighted." This darkness, like 
that at Jerusalem, seems to have been local. 
• ;; Luke xxii i , 49. 



The Crucifixion. 409 

spared: one of them, however, to try whether- there 
might not still be life, thrust a spear into his side, and 
there came out blood and water, decisive evidence 
that death had taken place.* 

Silence had fallen gradually upon this scene ; as the 
leaders, fully sated in their revenge, had left ; and the 
people had dropped off towards their homes in fear 
and remorse. A few remained, watchers from affec- 
tion ; and the Roman guard was still on duty there. 

We turn to gaze on that spectacle ; — the cross, the 
body, the bloody marks on brow and limbs, the stamp 
Of death on the victim slain ; — slain for us. 

" Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away 
the sin of the world." 

° Serum and blood, showing that the blood had resolved itself 
into its constituent principles, as it always does after death. 

"The researches of modern surgery have established the fact that 
an effusion of blood would have taken place in any case, being the 
natural consequences of such a wound, and is, under the circum- 
stances, decisive evidence of the actual death of Christ." — Bloomfield, 
in loco. 

" In order to ascertain whether Christ was really dead or not, or 
whether he had merely fallen into a swoon, a soldier thrust his 
lance into his side (undoubtedly his left side,) but no signs of life 
appeared. If he had not been previously dead, a wound of this 
kind in his side would have put a period to his life, as has been 
shown by the physician Eschenbach and by Gruncr. The part 
pierced was the pericardium ; hence lymph and blood flowed out." — 
John's Archaeology. 



18 



410 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 
CHAPTER XLII. 

THE BURIAL. 

Tele supernatural darkness had passed ; but the 
hearts of the multitudes were still palpitating with the 
fear and awe which the recent events had produced ; 
— the pall over all nature, the earthquake, the signifi- 
cant rending of the veil of the Holy of Holies, the 
dead moved from their graves. They felt that a hor- 
rible deed had been done, for which they might look 
for some avenging hand : and, when the people who 
had been at the crucifixion, and had joined in the 
derisions there, now returned, smiting their breasts in 
horror and remorse, reporting the words of the Cen- 
turion and others who had witnessed the end, " Cer- 
tainly this was a righteous man," " Truly this was the 
Son of God/ ; a deep dejection fell on the city, a gloom 
of the spirit darker than that which had just before 
been filling their sky. 

Sunset was approaching. After that they were 
bound to go out and cut the first fruits with festivity : 
— they had no heart for it now. 

As the morrow would be the Sabbath, the hours from 
three till sunset were called "the preparation ; ,; being 
given to cooking and preparing their food for the holy 
day : sometimes the whole of Friday was called the 
day of preparation. The Jewish law also directed 
that the bodies of persons executed should be buried 
before sunset of the day of execution ; and those at 
Calvary must now be removed. 



The Burial. 411 

There were members of the Sanhedrim believing on 
Jesus ; but that horrible punishment of excommuni- 
cation, decreed a year before, on any one who might 
confess him, and the rancorous spirit of that body, had 
kept them in a craven fear ; but two of their number 
now broke through this feeling ; — Joseph of Arima- 
thea ; and also Nicodemus, who had, three years pre- 
viously, come to Jesus by night. They had taken no 
part in the deliberations and the condemnation at the 
house of Caiaphas ; and the Sanhedrim had, probably, 
used the precaution to keep all doubtful persons from 
the councils on these occasions. Joseph had been, at 
heart, a disciple : and is spoken of as a good man and 
just, waiting for the kingdom of God : and although 
it would have been more creditable to him to have 
shown his discipleship earlier, we must remember that 
the heroic spirit of Christianity had not yet taken a 
decided form, except in the Lord himself ; and, also, 
how dark and cramped the minds of the Jews were, 
respecting the Messiah. The eleven themselves had 
all fled, when their Master was seized at Gethsemane. 

Joseph now went boldly to Pilate, and asked that 
the body of Christ might be delivered up to him. The 
governor sent for the centurion having it in charge, 
to inquire whether death had taken place so soon ; 
and, being satisfied of this, gave orders that it should 
be given to the applicant ; who now, assisted by Nico- 
demus, took it from the cross. The former was a 
wealthy men, and possessor of a garden close to the 
place of crucifixion, having in it a new tomb, in which 
no one had ever yet been laid.* Thither they trans- 

* It was an ancient custom for families to have burial places in 
their garden. See 2 Kings xxi, 18-26. 



412 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ported the body of the Messiah ; having wrapped, 
also, in the clean linen of its shroud, a very large 
quantity of spices, (aloes and myrrh,-*) which would 
absorb the juices, and keep it in preservation for 
embalmment when the Sabbath should have passed. 
They laid it thus in the new tomb, and rolled a very 
large stone against the mouth of the sepulchre. t The 
faithful women from Galilee, had never, through all 
this day, deserted their Lord : they had now followed 
the body to the sepulchre ; and when it had been re- 
moved from all human eyes, they still sat down op- 
posite the spot, gazing there tearfully ; still faithful 
to him in death4 

It was, however, only fidelity to the strong affec- 
tion produced by the past ; for all hopes in them re- 
specting Christ on this earth were now extinct. He 
had often spoken of his resurrection from the tomb 
on the third day ; but, what is now familiar to us, 
through history, was, at that time, to them an un- 
known future, with foretellings concerning it so 
strange and foreign to their ideas as to bring to the 
mind no comprehension of their meaning ; and ail his 
followers had believed, when he foretold his rising 
again, that he spoke of the final resurrection at the 
end of the world. Kicodemus and Joseph had so 
little expectation of a near rising again that they had 
enveloped the body in spices, so as to preserve it for 
embalmment after their Sabbath ; these women them- 
selves, when they afterwards came to the sepulchre, 
on the resurrection morning, had with them spices§ 
for the embalming ; and the eleven themselves, on 

« John xix, 38-42. f Matt, xxvii, GO. 

J Luke xxiii, C5 ; Mutt, xxvii, Gl. § Luke xxiv, 1. 



The Burial. 413 

that third day, when they heard that he had arisen, 
treated the report as an idle tale. 

So, at this time, in all the followers of the Messiah 
hope was dead, except what there might be in a far-' 
distant day, when the end of all things should 
come. The world was a blank to those who had 
trusted in him as the Messiah that was to do so much 
for the nation and for himself, and, perhaps, for them. 
Crucified ; dead ; what was there to hope for now ? 
How longingly had friends, how tremblingly had 
enemies, all through that day, been in a half-expecta- 
tion as of some miracle for his own deliverance ! but 
none had come. It was ended now : the closed se- 
pulchre, and the huge stone* rolled against its mouth, 
seemed forever to shut out these watchers at the 
grave from all the hopes they had entertained. So 
they felt ; but affection still remained ; and they sat 
there, tearfully, by the sepulchre, as the sun went 
down, and the evening shadows began to gather 
around. 

But they were startled soon by the martial tread 
of armed men, and by numerous irregular footsteps 
of others, advancing along the alleys of the garden. 
On they came ; and presently a company of soldiers 
filed up, and stood in array before the sepulchre ; 
while chief priests and Pharisees busied themselves 
to make sure that the body was still safe within the 
tomb. 

Hatred had been more keenly observant of Christ's 
words than affection ; and was now more attentively 
revolving them ; and the fears of these rulers had 
pictured to them a possible surreptitious disposal of 

e Mark xvi, 4. 



414 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

the body * and especially were they alarmed when 
they found that two of the Sanhedrim itself, one of 
them a man of large pecuniary resources, — were the 
leaders in taking the body from the cross, and de- 
positing it in a sepulchre belonging to one of these 
now acknowledged disciples, — men of rank. They 
had hoped that in the death of Christ their troubles 
would cease ; but a worse one had suddenly started 
up. The body in the tomb and garden belonging to 
Joseph, now courageous, as he had just shown him- 
self to be, in going to Pilate for it, and a man of means 
sufficient to enable him to hire men for any purpose ; 
— he and Nicodemus also able to give the protec- 
tion of their rank to subordinates ; while in the Sanhe- 
drim were others, also, secretly favorable ; — how easy, 
they thought, would it be, and under these circum- 
stances — (judging others by themselves) — how likely, 
to steal the body away, and to start then the report 
of an actual resurrection ! So, when they heard the 
particulars of the burial, they hastened to Pilate. 

"Sir," they said, "we remember that the deceiver 
said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will 
rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre 
be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples 
come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the 
people, He is risen from the dead : so the last error 
shall be worse than the first." — Pilate answered curtly, 

" Ye have a watch : go your way, make it as sure 
as ye can."* 

The Roman garrison in Antonia could easily fur- 

s Matt, xxvii, 63-C5. Pilate's words, ''E^ste xoucrcoStav, may 
mean either ye have or have ye, the word, v E^fT£ being both in the 
indicative present and imperative. 



The Burial. 415 

nish men, with officers to take command : * and, with 
this power from the Governor, they found themselves 
immediately provided with what they needed : and a 
sufficient guard,'!' with the Pharisees and chief priests in 
company, were quickly on their way to the sepulchre. 
The number of their watch was large, but these leaders 
were resolved that no precautions should be wanting ; 
and that all secret plottings by the disciples, or vio- 
lence from any revulsion of feeling among the populace 
should be equally guarded against. They took care 

* It is obvious, from Matt, xxviii, 12-15, that the guard was 
composed of Roman soldiers ; for, had they been Jewish watchmen 
from the temple there would have been no occasion to bribe them 
to secresy, or to offer to stand between them and Pilate, if their 
unfaithfulness should reach his ears. 

f Bishop Porteus, in his lectures on Matthew, gives sixty as the 
number of men composing this guard. He says: "The chief 
priests went to Pilate as soon as the sun was set on Friday, the day 
of the preparation and crucifixion ; for then began the following 
day or Saturday, as the Jews always began to reckon their day from 
the preceding evening. They had a guard as soon as they possibly 
could after the body was deposited in the sepulchre ; and one can- 
not help admiring the goodness of Providence in so disposing 
events, that the extreme anxiety of these men, to prevent collu- 
sion, should be the means of adding sixty unexceptionable witnesses 
(the number of the Roman soldiers on guard,) to the truth of the 
resurrection, and of establishing the reality of it beyond all power 
of contradiction." The writer of the present work united with 
a friend, — a professor in a theological seminary, himself a library 
in erudition, — in a search among numerous ancient folios and 
quartos for the Bishop's authority for stating so large a number ; 
and we both were surprised to find how little, on this subject, could 
be found among commentators and other writers. All that we 
could discover was a quotation in Poole's Synopsis, from Theophy- 
lact (10th century), xovatuBla h%r(x.ovta 'sgtc tfrpar'ttortov, a 
guard consists of sixty soldiers. The rulers would take care that, on 
this occasion, the guard should be a large one. 



416 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

to see, at the sepulchre, that the body was yet there, 
safe ; and then, drawing a cord across the stone which 
filled the entrance, and sealing the ends of this cord 
with their seals to the rock on each side, they felt now 
satisfied, that, with the soldiers in addition stationed 
about the place, they had made all secure. They 
thought, as they retired from the garden to their 
homes, that they might now have rest. 

But, with such remembrances as were theirs, men 
cannot calmly and quietly rest. Night came down 
silently over the city, stealing on so imperceptibly 
that it might seem as if trying, as it always does, to 
soothe, and to invite to quiet and repose ; but there 
was a seething of many feelings, all through Jerusa- 
lem, and through the country around, that was hos- 
tile to rest. 

The rulers themselves felt that- the day's acts had 
written up against them a terrible record, which they 
had, sometime or other, to meet. The excitement of 
the previous night and of the day was over, and they 
could now reflect : the strong tension on the nervous 
system was past, and left them exhausted. They sat 
down to think. Tired and worn as they were, many 
thoughts in them, enemies to peace were harassing 
them, and were to harass them forever. Conscience 
is never dead ; and it now asked them pertinaciously, 
whether their earnest zeal in all this was not masked 
revenge ? Why their night assemblage, if truth and 
justice only were required ? Why the suborning of 
witnesses ? Why their actual breaking through all 
the old rules for trial although preserving the forms? 
Why their untiring persistence ? Why the forcing 
of things to this terrible end ? Was not all this 



The Burial. 417 

course a tacit acknowledgment in themselves that 
their cause was not good ? that they were fighting 
against truth and right? Suppose that this wonder- 
ful bein^ should be the Messiah after all ? and should 
be their future judge ? Whatever doubts there might 
be on that subject, there was one which had in it a 
terrible certainty ; for, to gain their ends this day, 
they had humiliated themselves before the Roman 
governor, a Gentile, as they had never done before. 
Their own cry, " We have no king but Caesar," was 
still ringing in their ears. It was to ring there for- 
ever. It had always been their proud boast before 
their countrymen and the world, that they did not, 
and would not, bow to the Roman yoke. Had they not ' 
bowed their necks, and themselves put the yoke on, 
this day, before Pilate and before the public? But 
far worse than that ; — they had forsworn God. Their 
opposition to Rome had always been on the ground 
that God was their King, and that they could have 
no other. But the mad cry, " We have no king but 
Cassar," was casting off God, and was swearing fealty 
to the bloody, despicable- monster at Rome in place 
of Jehovah ; was blasphemy ; was shutting themselves 
out from God. And was not the very fact that they 
could be induced to do this, in that persecution to death, 
a proof that their cause was the devil's cause, and 
that they were only his dupes ? So their consciences 
whispered, as they laid down to rest. 

But they slept at last. Nature, wearied out and 
exhausted, gave way at length, and they slept, wrapped 
up in such dreams as proud men utterly humiliated, 
and men feeling that they had just publicly abjured 
God, and substituted for him the vilest of all earthly 
18* 



418 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

tyrants, may have; to wake again to a frightful con- 
sciousness on the morrow. 

The night, settling clown, found the disciples crushed 
in heart ; and with no consciousness of noble, heroic 
conduct as a relief. They knew, and felt, how pusil- 
lanimous their course had been. John only had pos- 
sessed courage enough to stand near the cross, an 
acknowledged follower of Christ. Their hopes of 
earthly glory were now gone : their Master had met 
a felon's death ; they, themselves, might soon be seized 
by the same relentless Sanhedrim and dragged to pun- 
ishment : what a vista had Christ's oft repeated pre- 
dictions as to themselves opened to their view ! Yet 
•their recollections of him were precious. Faithless as 
they had been ; one of them false ; they clung, with 
deep affection, to the memories of his kindnesses, his 
counsels, his gentleness in their mistakes and way- 
wardness, his constant love to them ; and their affec- 
tion to his memory still constituted a bond among 
themselves, saddened, dispirited, borne down by a con- 
sciousness of their baseness in deserting him in his 
hour of need ; humbled ; and, although unconsciously 
to themselves, having, in this humility and this feeling 
of self-accusation, and in their affection to the memory 
of Christ, the elements which would yet be worked 
into greatness of life. They slept at last, — worn out 
wit! i long agitation ; — slept such a sleep as the 
sorrowing and despondent have. 

As twilight spread over the vast throngs in the city 
and on the hills around, these talked uneasily and 
gloomily of what they had, that day, seen and heard. 
A great many of them remembered the crucified, as 
he had moved among their hills and valleys in Galilee 



The Burial. 419 

and Perea ; the crowds following and shouting their 
gratitude at his healings ; the whole world there 
glorifying God, for what their eyes beheld of his won- 
derful greatness and goodness. Some of these multi- 
tules bad cried Hosanna to him here at Jerusalem, 
only a few days before ; and they remembered how 
full their hearts had then been of admiration and love. 
They remembered his stopping, amid the joy of the 
shouting train, to weep over Jerusalem ; and his 
lamentation then, and on the following day, over the 
city. Many in their hearts' deep convictions still 
hailed him with Hosannas as the Messiah. But, if lie 
were the Messiah, then what must be thought of 
their country's sin that clay ! So they queried sadly 
and anxiously, as night sunk down upon them, and 
they retired to their rest. 

The city and country slept ; — the rulers from the 
exhaustion of the previous night and day ; the disci- 
ples worn out with sorrow and self-reproach ; the 
people weighed down with gloomy thoughts. They 
slept ; and, penetrating with its fangs deeper and 
deeper in the nation's vitals, so as to hold, with a sure 
and unrelenting grasp ; and beginning already its de- 
vourings, to be continued till the life of that people 
should all be like a quivering nerve, wherever they 
might be found, — ivas the doom intensified by that 
hideous p?'ayer, 

" His blood be on us and on our children." 

Jesus had prayed that they might be forgiven ; but 
forgiveness is not forced on those who do not ask for 
it themselves, and who persist in wrong ; and the 
Jews still insist on the justice of that condemnation. 

That prayer has never yet been canceled. 



420 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



THE RESURRECTION. 



The hours passed heavily by, over those guards at 
the sepulchre ; and morning came, the Jewish Sab- 
bath, with its long hoars of entire rest ; only the 
most necessary duties of life being allowed on their 
holy day. But people through these hours rested un- 
easily ; for their thoughts were ever turning towards 
that body lying in the sepulchre, and to the events of 
the preceding day ; and many discussions now took 
place ; often renewed, always unsatisfactory ; some- 
times greatly exciting, generally of a gloomy kind. 
Sunset came again at last, closing their wearisome 
Sabbath, to which day even the temple solemnities 
could give no relief; for the voices of the multitude, 
even in their sacred melodies, were dulled by an un- 
defined dread. For, had not a mysterious power, on 
the previous day, rent, from top to bottom the veil 
shutting the Holy of Holies from common eyes ? — a 
fact of portentous significance, especially combined 
as it was with the numerous other terrors and unna- 
tural events. Even their Most Holy Place had not 
escaped. 

The night settled down again on Jerusalem ; the 
moon, still near the full, and a mild light shed on 
every object ; — the city, the garden, the sepulchre, 
and the guards pacing back and forth in their watch 
in front of its sealed door. At the previous sunset 



The Resurrection. 421 

had been the beginning' of the third day since the 
crucifixion; and twenty-four hours from that period 
would relieve the guard from this duty, and the San- 
hedrim from their fears ; for the specified time for his 
rising would then be past. The grave had not yet 
been invaded ; the seals had not been broken ; the. 
guard were cautioned to particular vigilance in the 
short remaining time ; though, indeed, scarcely was 
caution necessary ; for the Roman discipline was the 
severest ever known, and was particularly and prop- 
erly so respecting the vigiliae or watches at night. 

Hour after hour passed on in quietude ; the plea- 
sant, mellow moonlight lying on the sleeping city, on 
the crests of Moriah and temple pinnacles, on battle- 
mented walls and castles, on the garden, on the hel. 
mets, and breast-plates, and spears of the guards, giv- 
ing a charm to the scene, heightened by the entire 
silence around, which was broken only by the pace 
of the watch in front of the tomb. It had got at last 
to.be near morning ; in a little while the dawn would 
begin to creep upward in the eastern sky. — 

— Suddenly the earth shook, and the whole garden 
was illuminated by an unnatural light, so dazzling as 
almost to blind the beholder ; — and the guards stood 
paralyzed and trembling at what they beheld. An 
angel was there; "his countenance like lightning, 
his raiment white as snow." He had descended 
suddenly and was among them, in the overwhelming 
glory of the heavenly world, compared with which all 
earthly beauty in the scene around was blank and 
drear ; — except the glory of the tomb, by which he 
now stood, and which reflected back the dazzling 
brightness from his face. The glare lighted up all 



422 Life-scenes from the Four GosrELs. 

objects around, and made distinct to the eye every- 
thing which now occurred. 

The angel rolled away the stone from the mouth of 
the tomb. 

Jesus came forth alive. 

The resurrection had come. 

There was no mistaking that form standing in the 
blaze of the heavenly light : — the hands and feet 
pierced by the nails of the crucifixion ; the wounded 
side ; the brow marked by the thorns ; that majesty 
of countenance, each feature and mark clear and 
easily recognized ; and all manifest to the returning 
senses of the guard. 

Christ, the crucified unto death, was before them ; 
and had come out from the sealed and carefully 
guarded tomb. 

The guard recovered from their stupor of amaze- 
ment and fear : it was in vain to contend with the 
supernatural, and with power such as was before 
their eyes : their work of guarding was, indeed, over, 
and it was manifest had all been in vain. No seal, 
no bars, the millions of the world to guard such a 
place and keep the dead there, would not have 
availed. 

Early, on that morning, a hasty admission was 
demanded into the houses of some of the high 
priests ; and these men were astonished to see several 
of the soldiers before them, agitated and still show- 
ing marks of alarm. They brought the news that 
Christ had risen, and described the circumstances at- 
tending his coming forth among the living, himself 
alive again. 

The intelligence was astounding. The rulers had 



The Resurrection. 423 

provided against the surreptitious taking of the body 
by the disciples ; but here was an account, which, if 
it should spread abroad, would bring the whole 
Jewish people upon them in a tempest of excited and 
angry feeling, demanding punishment on the abettors 
of the crucifixion : and the numerous guard, which 
they had placed there in order to make sure that 
there should be no fabricated story of a resurrection, 
would now, every one of them, be evidence that a 
resurrection had actually occurred. 

The danger of that terrible reaction among the 
vast multitudes was imminent ; and to prevent it, 
the guards must, at once, be bought over, if possible ; 
no matter what the cost might be. They were all 
quickly sent for ; and, in the mean time, swift mes- 
sengers through the city brought the Sanhedrim to- 
gether, to an exciting consultation about this amazing 
news. The soldiers were brought before them : and 
the ample pecuniary means at the command of the 
rulers were turned to account. 

" Say ye," — this was the injunction — " Say ye, His 
disciples came by night, and stole him away while 
we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, 
we will persuade him and secure you." 

The soldiers knew that the same golden means 
could be made effectual with the governor likewise ; 
and consequently little danger would accrue to them ; 
so they took the bribe, and spread abroad the pre- 
scribed report,* which the Sanhedrim took care to 
have repeated by their special messengers sent out 

* Matt, xxviii, 11-15. 



42-i Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

for that purpose, through the city and country 
around.* 

The story was a bold one : for every person knew 
that the punishment to any Roman soldier sleeping on 
his post was death ; and these guards were circulating 
a report, which showed, on the face of it, a gross infi- 
delity to their trust, and a clear violation of all mili- 
tary law ; and therefore stamped the authors of the 
story as unworthy of belief. Every one, too, would 
ask, how could it be possible for the number of per- 
sons necessary to such a stealing as this, to come and 
remove the. heavy stone and carry away the body, 
without waking such sleepers by the noise which 
they must necessarily make ; — the guard being -so 
numerous as it was ? But the report, though carrying 
such improbabilities on its front, had its intended 
effect upon many of the people, backed as it was by 
the emissaries of the Sanhedrim ; and took a perma- 
nent hold on the public mind. 

But the Sanhedrim never dared to join issue with 
the apostles on this subject ; although, soon after 
this event, the latter were preaching the doctrine of 
the resurrection in Jerusalem itself, and making- 
thousands of converts by this preaching. These 
eleven men, so timid lately, after they had under- 
gone the wonderful change produced by the descent 
of the Holy Ghost on them on the day of Pentecost, 
preached boldly and publicly the resurrection, of 
which they offered themselves as evidence. Peter 
and John proclaimed this, at the temple, in Solo- 
mon's Porch, before the multitudes and priests : 

o The authority for this last is Justin Martyr, a cotemporary 
with the apostle John. 



The Resurrection. 425 

charging on them that they " killed the Prince of 
Life, whom God hath raised from the dead ; whereof 
we are witnesses."* The rulers heard them, and were 
" grieved that they taught the people through Jesus, 
the resurrection of the dead ;" but although they 
laid hands on them and confined them till the next 
day, they dared not dispute the fact itself, and bring 
to issue the question, on which friends and ene- 
mies all saw that the whole fabric of their new reli- 
gion was resting. f Why did they not, for consisten- 
cy's sake, and for their own cause, prosecute the dis- 
ciples ; and have an official investigation before the 
Sanhedrim, if they had dared to do so ; especially 
now when their story of the stealing had the lie pub- 
licly given to it, in the very temple precincts, the 
apostles offering themselves as witnesses? On the 
next day after this seizing of Peter and John, " the 
rulers and elders and Scribes, and Annas, the high 
priest, and Caiaphas, and John and Alexander, and as 
many as were of the kindred of the high priest," as- 
sembled ; and the two disciples, Peter and John, 
were brought out and placed before them, a deter- 
mined and formidable assembly indeed. But there 
was no charge made there, of preaching falsehood ; 
simply the question asked ; 

" By what power, or by what name, have ye done 
this?" Peter replied to them, and in his reply reit- 
erates, — 

" Jesus of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God 
raised from the dead :" and the rulers dared not there 
dispute the fact of the resurrection. They only, 
after the apostles had been removed to give oppor- 

° Acts iii, 15, f 1 Cor. xv, 14-17. 



426 LlFMCEKES FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

tunity for consultation, decided,— " But that it spread 
no further among the people, let us straitly threaten 
them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this 
name :"* and this was done ; but still there was no 
attempt to make any issue on the question of the re- 
surection. 

Again, soon after this threat and charge to the 
apostles, a large number of the latter were in the tem- 
ple preaching as before. They had been in prison, 
but were released by supernatural interposition : 
in the morning the prison door was found open and 
the room empty ; and the apostles were obeying the 
words of their delivering angel, " Go stand and 
speak in the temple to the people all the words of 
this life.' 7 The multitudes were around them in this 
preaching, captivated by their words ; and the mes- 
sengers of the Sanhedrim, sent to bring the teachers 
again before that body, had to do it without violence, 
lest the crowd should stone the messengers them- 
selves. The Sanhedrim were almost humble in their 
appeal : " Did we not straitly command you, that ye 
should not teach in this name ? and behold ye have 
filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to 
bring this man's blood upon us." 

But there was no denial of the resurrection by 
these leaders, which, in every contest with the apos- 
tles, they felt must be conceded as an admitted fact. 
o Acts iv, 17. 



After the Besurrection. — Ascension. 427 
CHAPTER XLIY. 

AFTER THE RESURRECTION. — THE ASCENSION. 

The hearts of the disciples and of the followers of 
Christ, had, through that Jewish Sabbath, been bur- 
dened with a heavy load. They had all mistaken his 
prediction concerning his rising again ; a circum- 
stance that seems strange to us, looking as we do, at 
this event through the light of history : but to their 
minds it was a truth too great to be fully comprehend- 
ed, and was mingled with visions of a general resur- 
rection at the end of the world. Any dim idea that 
they might have received from the plainness of his 
words, was swept away by the horrors at Calvary, 
where their Master seemed to have been deserted of 
God and man. 

Consequently, on this night, they had not been 
watching ; but Christ's enemies, for other purposes, 
had watched. They did not see the glory of the 
resurrection ; but strangers did. They were left to 
sleep ; though the Lord had risen from the dead. 

The assembling of the Sanhedrim and the calling 
of the matter before that council, had all been very 
early ; for, when some women came to the sepulchre, 
at dawn,* they found no one there. On the way, 
these followers of Christ had been querying how they 

° Matthew says, "as it began to dawn ;" Mark, " very early*" 
" at the rising of the sun ;" Luke, " very early ;" John, " when 
it was yut dark." For such metonomy of sunlight, see Judges ix, 
33 ; Ps. civ, 12 : 2 Kings iii, 22. 



428 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

should get the great stone removed from the en- 
trance ; for they were bringing spices, with the inten- 
tion of having the body embalmed. No thought in 
them of his rising again, as the object of their errand 
very clearly proved. 

These women were the ones who had, at the cruci- 
fixion, stood watching the scene ; some near, some 
further off ; and who had, afterward, followed the 
body to the tomb ; Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and 
Mary the mother of James * and other followers from 
Galilee. 

They came into the garden with their burden of 
spices. They found that the stone had been rolled 
away : the tomb was open ! They ran to look in : 
it was empty ! 

Amazement was their first feeling ; then alarm. 
" Who had taken the body ? For what purpose ? 
Where was- it ? There had been such a hate shown 
by the ruling powers during the last three days, that 
nothing was too dark for them, no act that they 
might not perpetrate ; — or had friends taken the body 
from some mistaken motive V Thought, at such 
moments, is far quicker than words, and these queries 
were flashing through their minds, only however 
creating perplexities. Mary Magdalene, having given 
a glance to assure herself that the sepulchre was 
empty, turned and ran back to the city, to where 
Feter and John were lodging there ; whom, on reach- 
ing their house, she saluted with the lamentation, 

kt They have taken away the Lord out of the sep- 
ulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.' 7 

■■' Luke xxiv, 10. 



After the Resurrection. — Ascension. 429 

These two disciples started immediately for the 
tomb.-* 

In the mean time, the women left behind had 
entered the sepulchre. Two men suddenly appeared 
now beside them, — angelic messengers they were 
quickly seen to be ; — and the women, trembling with 
fear, bowed down their faces before them.f 

One of the angels said, " Fear not ye : for I know 
that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not 
here : for he is risen, as he said. Come, sec the 
place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell 
his disciples that he is risen from the dead ; and 
behold he goeth before you into Galilee ; there shall 
ye see him : lo, I have told you. ":£ 

They hurried off, trembling still at the thought of 
what they had just seen and heard, but filled with 
an extatic joy. What glorious tidings were these 
of which they were the messengers ! Risen ; alive 
again ; soon to meet them once more ; they should see 
him again, now far more glorious and more wonder- 
ful even than before ! They stopped not ; but were 
hurrying back to the city, full of eagerness to com- 
municate the news, when, on the way, they met the 
Saviour himself ! 

He stood before them ! What was he like ? The 
same to all outward senses as previously, except 
that he now bore, in his hands and feet, the marks 
never, never, we may believe, in the glorified body to 
be erased ;— the marks from that sacrifice of himself 
made for the redemption of the world. 

Q John xx, 1-8. . f Luke xxiv, 4, 5. 

t Matthew xxviii, 5-7. Matthew and Mark .speak of one angel ; 
Luke of two. The same criticism applies here as in a former case, 
Qui plura narrat pauciora compleciitur. 



430 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

They knew him, at once, and at his salutation, " All 
bail ! ' ; they fell at his feet, embracing them, and wor- 
shiping him. He said, "Be not afraid: go tell my 
brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they 
see me. 1 ' 

He left them ; and, hurrying on their mission, they 
soon reached the house where all, except Peter and 
John, were staying ; but here they received a terrible 
chesk to their eagerness and joy. The disciples 
treated their story as an idle tale !* 

The nine listened to their earnest words, which were 
almost incoherent through their haste and agitation ; 
looked at them ; saw how they trembled still from 
excitement, and how pale their looks ; heard their 
confused voices in the earnestness of their assevera- 
tions, the tones of joy, and earnestness, and dis- 
appointment intermixed : and concluded that some 
strange phantom in their confused senses had bewil- 
dered them. The disciples were never disposed to 
credulity ; and. throughout this day. they showed an 
amount of the opposite feeling which seems strange to 
us with our present means of judging of these things. 
But the resurrection was, to them, a new thought : 
even to us now it is an amazing one, though familiar 
to our minds. They had been weepingt at their loss : 
the other feeling was too great a joy to suddenly find 
admittance amid such gloom. 

Peter and John, on the report of Mary Magdalene, 
had started from their home in another part of the 
city ; and John's warm affection brought him the 
first to the sepulchre ; where he stooped and looked 
reverently in, not venturing to enter. Peter, arriving 
Luke xxiv, 11. t Mark xvi, 10. 



After the Resurrection. — Ascension. 431 

soon, had greater boldness, and went in ; and John 
also entered now. The empty tomb betrayed no 
signs of a rapid and confused departure ; for the 
linen clothes used for enveloping the body were 
folded, and the napkin for the head had been wrapped 
up and laid by itself. * They queried, as they stood 
there, — now joined by Mary Magdalene, who had fol- 
lowed them, — and were perplexed by what they saw. 
Thieves had not taken the body, for the spices were 
there, and, in that case, would not have been left be- 
hind ; friends had not done it, for they would have 
taken the grave-clothes also. No account of a resur- 
rection had yet reached these two, and "they knew 
not the Scripture ;; about his rising. f Their eyes con- 
firmed what they had heard concerning the removal of 
the body ; but the rest was still to them a dark per- 
plexing mystery. They returned to the city, leaving 
Mary Magdalene still at the tomb. 

She was left there alone, weepings outside the se- 
pulchre ; but presently stooping down, she looked in 
to see the spot where the body had just been lying. 
She was startled at seeing two angels sitting .there, 
one at each end of the tomb ; the heavenly visitants, 
their robes of white, and their meditative posture, 
harmonizing with the sacred place. They addressed 
her : 

" Woman, why weepest thou ?" 

" Because they have taken away my Lord, and I 
know not where they have laid him," was the reply ; 
her simple language evidence of the Ml strength of 
her grief. 

She turned as she said this ; — some other person was 

° John xx, 4-7. f ID. verses 9, 10. 



432 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

standing near her ; but her eyes, — holdcn, as was 
afterwards the case with the two disciples going to 
Emmaus, or overflowing with grief, — failed to recog- 
nize who it was. A voice, also unrecognized, said, 

" Woman, why weepest thou ? whom seekest thou ?" 
Her mind was full of the one thought, of the abstrac- 
tion of the body ; and, seemingly with scarcely a 
glance at the questioner, whom she supposed to be 
the gardener, she replied, 

H Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where 
thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." 

There was but one word in reply to this ; but it 
was in that tone so well known to her — 

" Mary ! ,? — She turned : — 

" Eabboni \" (Master ;) and she fell at his feet. — 
It was Jesus himself. 

Her joy, and love, and reverence were making de- 
monstration in the act of worship, as she lay there, 
her heart overflowing with gladness. Alive ! re- 
stored to them ! The marks in the feet showed that 
it was no phantom, but the same ! JSTot a spirit, but 
himself! In her reverence and joy, she would have 
clung to these feet, and would have been willing to 
lie there in her deep happiness ; but there was not 
time for such demonstrations now. He said, 

" Touch mc- not, for I am not yet ascended to my 
Father ; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, 
I aseend unto my Father, and your Father ; and to 
my God, and your God."* 

She went to deliver the message ; her soul all full 
of gladness, and of that one thought that the Lord 
was among them again, living, speaking ; that face, 

* John xx, 11-17. 



After the Kesurrection. — Ascension. 433 

so grand always, glorious still in its benignity and 
kindness ; that voice, still full of its old intonations 
of mercy and goodness : Jesus was alive again ! her 
thoughts gave swiftness to her movements ; and she 
was soon before the apostles in their city home. But 
the manner in which they received her message gra- 
ted on all her sensibilities. They refused to believe 
that it could be so ;* the very enthusiam of her feel- 
ings was to them a proof that an excited imagination 
had deceived her. The announcement, they thought, 
was too astounding to be believed : they wanted the 
evidence of their own senses ; indeed, they argued, 
could they even then believe ? 

Our knowledge of the Saviour, after his resurrec- 
tion, is but fragmentary. In the history of the gos- 
pels he comes before us suddenly, and without prepa- 
ration of circumstances ; and then disappears ; to be 
revealed again, without explanation or cause given : 
his earthly ministrations always so mysterious to us, 
must indeed be doubly so to mortals in that space 
lying between earth and heaven : the interval be- 
tween' the resurrection and his ascension. 

At this place, however, the inquiry may suggest 
itself to the reader, what was the nature of the body 
in which he now appeared ? There have been three 
opinions started by learned and good men : 1st — ■ 
That it was a spiritual tody, such as the dead shall 
have after the resurrection ;f 2d — That it was the 
same body as before, but glorified, or as the earlier 
writers express it, changed in its qualities and attri- 
butes : and 3d — That it was the same body as before, 
but which was to be spiritualized and glorified at the 

* Mark xvi, 9-11. f 1 Cor. xv, 43, 44. 

19 



434 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

ascension. It will be best only to remark here, that 
the last of these opinions seems to be the correct one. 
The body of Elijah was also spiritualized at the mo- 
ment of its ascension from the earth. As respects the 
sadden transportation from place to place, or a sud- 
den appearance or disappearance, all difficulties in 
any of the above views cease in comparison with the 
resurrection itself. We are among the supernatural 
agencies ; and admitting the power of the resurrec- 
tion, we must admit power for the rest. 

Christ thought it best to remain, after the res- 
urrection, forty days* on earth. It was important 
to give full proof of his having risen again ; not 
only immediately after that event, but at different 
times and places ; and those occasions, also, at 
periods when men's minds would be recovered 
from the first surprise, and a cooler judgment be 
exercising itself. It was important also that the 
disciples, whose mission was to be so extensive 
and dangerous, should not have a feeling of sudden 
and entire desertion ; but should have a sense of a 
nearness to them, a care and affectionate regard, all 
open to their outward senses, and giving an assur- 
ance to their mind and heart that their Lord had not 
forsaken them, would not forsake them, in this new 
relative condition between him and themselves. Be- 
ing with them, as he was for forty days ; not continu- 
ously, in which case familiarity might have lessened 
reverence ; but at intervals, and under circumstances 
to give assurance of his identity, his deep affection, 
and his continued supernatural powers, and also, 
with these powers, of a greatness in his Presence 
* Acts i, 3. 



After the Resurrection. — Ascension. 435 

more wonderful even than before, he could thus make 
them have a fulness of faith in his final parting 
words — "Behold 1 am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world." They would, indeed, need the 
consciousness of that presence in many a scene of 
their after life, — the arena with the wild beasts 
ready to tear them to pieces, and the rage of men 
more savage than beasts ;— and they could have it all 
the stronger, from the feeling that he had, in his af- 
fection, lingered with them these forty days, to afford 
them proof of his care and attachment in his new 
state, and to give words of kindness and love, uttered 
in their ears, — manifestations of his closeness with 
them which they could fully understand. With such 
a feeling, not of forsakenness, but of the Presence 
derived from the forty days, and the demonstration 
to their senses that they were not, and to their hearts 
that they never could be, forsaken, they could go 
forth into the world, as they did. to meet all its rage, 
and amid that rage to persevere. 

On this day of the resurrection, two disciples were 
going to Emmaus, a village seven and a half miles 
from Jerusalem ; and were talking sadly as they 
went, about what they had recently seen and heard. 
They were joined on the way by the Saviour himself, 
who inquired the cause of their sadness and the sub- 
ject of their conversation. " Their eyes were holden 
that they should not know him."* One of them asked 
him in surprise, — 

" Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast 
not known the things which are come to pass in these 
days ? " And, in answer to his question, they spoke of 

* Luke xxiv, 16. 



436 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

the Messiah as " a prophet mighty in deed and word 
before God and the people," and gave a statement of 
the trial and crucifixion. " But we trusted that it had 
been he which should have redeemed Israel ;" and 
they added that they had been astonished by the 
reports of the women : and that the sepulchre was 
certainly empty, as some of their own number had 
seen. He said, in reply : 

"0 unintelligent and slow of heart to believe all 
that the prophets have spoken ;" and he proceeded 
t&en to explain the prophecies relating to himself. 

Coming to the village, he was invited to go with 
them to their home : where, then, at table, assuming 
the office of host, instead of guest, he took bread and 
blessed it, and brake and gave to them to eat. They 
knew him now, for the restriction was taken from 
their sight : but he vanished, as they became aware 
who he was. They said, 

" Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked 
with us by the way, and while he opened to us the 
Scriptures ? " 

They returned to the city immediately, and hastened 
to the room where the apostles (except Thomas,") 
with others, were assembled ; — the doors carefully 
closed through fear of their Jewish enemies ;t — but, as 
they entered, full of the joyful news, they were met, 
at once, by the no less joyful annunciation that he had 
appeared to Peter that day4 These two described 

° Luke calls them " the eleven," (though lhonias was absent,) 
just as Paul in 1 Cor. xv, 5, says "he was seen of the twelve," 
though Judas was then dead. 

f John xx, 19. 

X Luke xxiv, 341 ; Cor. xv, 5. The circumstances of this ap- 
pearing are no where described. 



After the Resurrection. — Ascension. 437 

their meeting with him ; but, while they were yet 
speaking, Christ himself stood in the midst of the 
assembly, with the salutation, 

" Peace be unto you." 

The suddenness of his appearance overcame all who 
were present. How could any but a spirit enter 
through that closed door, and stand so suddenly in 
their midst ? They shrunk terrified from before so 
dreaded an object, a spirit of unknown nature, as he 
seemed to them to be ; but he hastened to re-assure 
them. 

" Why are ye troubled ? and why do thoughts arise 
in your hearts ? Behold my hands and my feet, that 
it is I myself; handle me, and sec ; for a spirit hath 
not flesh and bones as ye see me have :" and he show- 
ed them his hands and feet. 

There was a whirl of sensations in their hearts ; 
a joy that longed to be full, — for it was mixed with 
doubts ; — a belief struggling for ascendency — and yet 
the truth seemed to be too great for belief ; hope, 
mixed with doubts ; love, that longed to clasp the 
feet of the Master, and yet fear ; a full recognition 
of the features with their grand and gentle, and now 
pitying expression ; — and yet how could it be that 
he was the same ? The crucified, the dead, how could 
it be? 

— How different from this doubtfulness, in the 
strong yet shrinking natures of these men, was the 
quick and full belief of the weaker, and yet more 
courageous because more loving, natures of the 
women, as shown that day ! — 

The company had been at supper, when lie entered. 
To assure them fully he asked for meat, and he ate 



438 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

before them ; and afterwards he gave explanations 
of the prophecies, and counsel respecting themselves 
after he should have left the earth. ;* and also a 
symbol of the future descent of the Holy Ghost on 
them, after which they would have the power of 
knowing hearts, and of forgiving sins.f 

Eight days subsequently he showed himself again 
to the disciples in their room in Jerusalem, Thomas, 
on this occasion, being present ; and to this doubter, 
who had openly expressed his requirements of clearer 
demonstrations before he would believe, he gave tan- 
gible evidences of his identity. — 

" Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; 
and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my 
side ; and be not faithless, but believe." Thomas 
exclaimed on this — 

" My Lord and my God I" The Saviour replied, 

"Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast 
believed : blessed are they who have not seen, and 
yet have believed.":]: 

There was to be a great occasion in Galilee, to which 
the Saviour, in the meeting with the women on the 
morning of his resurrection, had adverted ; and 
whither they were told to direct the disciples to pro- 
ceed. Galilee had always been the favored region : 
and here, accordingly, the number of disciples was 
greatest ; while also in Galilee the Messiah must have 
found, to the last, much that was genial to himself. We 
never read of that country, its scenery or its people, and 
especially of Christ's actions there, without having 
pleasant thoughts rise up in our minds. 

« Luke xxiv, 36-39. t John xx > 22 « 

t John xx, 26-29. 



After the Resurrection. — Ascension. 439 

Not only was Galilee not neglected by the Saviour 
after the resurrection, but there was to be in that 
region the most impressive manifestation of himself, 
and to the largest number ; and, there also, the grand 
commission to preach the Gospel to all the world. 

First, however, there was a more private interview 
with his disciples on the borders of its lake. Some of 
them tiad again resorted to their former means of 
livelihood ; and, while they were employed in fishing, 
the Saviour appeared on the shore, and invited them 
to a meal already there prepared. They were Simon 
Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, and John, with two 
others not specified by name. 

Could Peter ever see the Saviour, now, without 
thinking of the scene in the house of Caiaphas, and of 
his own sin and shame ? The dawn after that night 
had beheld him in the streets bowed down with re- 
morse, and convulsed with grief; but no tears, and no 
remorse, could ever efface from his memory the ter- 
rible sin of that denial of his Lord. But his bitter 
repentance had brought forgiveness. The Saviour 
had, through all that sin, seen a warm-hearted, gene- 
rous nature, whose very impulsiveness might, under 
the great influences of the Spirit, yet bring out the 
grandest results. Christ pitied the weak, and loved 
the good, that he saw in him. 

On this occasion he must have shrunk from his Lord 
almost with a hatred of himself ; ashamed to look into 
the face still so winning in its expressions, with such 
gentleness and kindness still mixed with its grandeur. 
After the meal, the Saviour, as if to lift up this fallen 
disciple from that despairing consciousness of his de- 



440 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

gradation, and to reinstate the penitent in the eyes of 
his companions, turned to him especially : — 

" Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than 
[thou dost] these ?" 

He used the word dya^a (agapas.) which signifies a 
strict union of affection, a feeling of strong love ; and 
Peter, on hearing it, seems to have shrunk into a hor- 
ror at his unwor thin ess to respond in the same expres- 
sive terms. There is another word, $aw (philo) sig- 
nifying an affection of less endearment, a warm friend- 
ship ; and the convicted and now modest, though still 
ardent disciple, resorted to it. He answered, " Yea, 
Lord, thou knowest that $t*w as (philo se) I have affec- 
tion for thee." " Feed my lambs,' 7 was now the injunc- 
tion of Christ, by which Peter was publicly reinstated 
in his apostleship. 

But there was such a hiatus between the Saviour's ex- 
pressive word and that of the apostle, that Christ, 
wishing, in his great tenderness and kindness, to place 
the fallen man, even in the language of his regard, on 
the same level as the others, tried to draw him to it ; 
and he asked once more, 

* Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me (agapas me) V 

" Yea, Lord," said the remorseful man •again, $aZ as 
(philo se,) I have affection for thee." 

" Be a shepherd to my sheep," was the injunction 
now. 

Christ then, as if to put himself on a level with the 
disciple, and thus enwrap him in his heavenly regards, 
to be carried in them upward, used the same term as 
that of Peter, and said, 

"Simon, son of Jonas, $t,%he (phileis) me? Hast 
thou affection for me 'V 



After the Resurrection. — Ascension. 441 

The disciple, grieved because he asked him this 
third time, phUeis me ? answered warmly, 

" Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest 
philo se, I have affection for thee." Christ gave the 
injunction, 

"Feed my sheep." 

What a history of Peter's heart there is manifesting 
itself in this dialogue ; — the long remorse, the pros- 
tration from his former confidence in himself ; affec- 
tion, ardent yet all enveloped in shame ; days and 
nights of mourning ; a heart now chastened by his 
grief ! 

What a tenderness and depth. of love in Christ is 
also here made manifest ! 

The Saviour addressed some further remarks to him, 
signifying the trials before him, and what death he 
should die; adding, then, to him, ".Follow me.' 7 * 

Peter turned and saw John close by. The affec- 
tionate, gentle, brave man, and the rash, impetuous, 
but really timid one, had, by the magnetism of oppo- 
sites, which we often see in life, formed a mutual at- 
tachment ; and Peter said, in his old, impulsive man- 
ner, 

" Lord, and what shall this man do?" 

" If I will that he tarry till I come, what is' that to 
thee ? follow thou me."t and these words being mis- 

** John xxi, 15-19. The author has in this, endeavored to give 
the force of tbe original, though regretting to mar, in doing so, 
the simplicity of the dialogue. In our common translation it loses 
its meaning and force. The first and last of Christ's injunctions are 
66axs, feed ; the second one is iroifxcuvs, be a shepherd. See Bloom- 
field and Alford in loco. In this dialogue the vernacular of the 
country (Arame^n) was of course employed ; but it is doubtless faith- 
fully rendered in the Greek given as above, by St. John xxi, 15-17. 

f John xxi, 15-23. 

19* 



442 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

taken, a report was spread, from that time, that John 
was not to die, confirmed seemingly for a while, in 
after periods, by the very advanced age to which 
that apostle lived. 

The mountains of Galilee had ever been the favor- 
ite resort of Christ ; and through all that region he 
had left the chief marks of his goodness and love, and 
of his divine power ; and therefore we might have 
expected here something peculiar in these last mani- 
festations of himself. It was so. He had directed 
the eleven to meet him here ; on this occasion, doubt- 
less, we must place the meeting with the five hundred 
brethren, alluded to in another part of the Scrip- 
tures. 45 ' Here was the great mission for an universal 
Gospel given to his followers. Some of those present 
at this meeting doubted their own senses, so amazing 
was the fact of the resurrection ; but others wor- 
shiped, their hearts full of mingled sentiments, awe, 
reverence, wonder, tenderness, and deep and cling- 
ing love. For there were in him the marks of the 
wounds at Calvary ; and all remembered his words 
about. the meaning of the sacrifice of himself there 
made. 

Standing among them, on the mountain-top, where 
they had met, he said : ■ 

" All power is given unto me in heaven and in 
earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to ob- 
serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you : 
and lo, I am with you ahvay, even u^fco the end of 
the world. J f 

° 1 Cor. xv, 6. f Matt, xxviii, 16-20. 



After the Resurrection. — Ascension. 443 

The eleven then returned to Jerusalem ; and he 
met them, now, on the Mount of Olives, and went 
with them along on the road to Bethany, by spots to 
them full of recollections of recent, stirring events. 
Was it the memory of the late triumphal passage 
across that mountain, and the loud Hallels of the peo- 
ple, which started the query, 

''Lord, wilt thou, at this time, restore again the 
kingdom of Israel ?" 

It was indeed necessary that these men, so persis- 
tent in. the old Jewish errors, should have supernatu- 
ral enlightenment before going on their wide mission 
to the world ; and he now again promised it to them. 
He directed them to remain at Jerusalem till it should 
come. u For John truly baptized with water ; but 
ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many 
days hence." 

The party were now approaching Bethany. He 
knew that in a few minutes thai last separation would 
take place. In his presence they had felt confi- 
dence, strength, comfort. Very soon they would be 
left ; and what a fight there was before them in the 
World ! and what a duty to be performed ! But they 
were to be strengthened for it, as, indeed, all men 
are for duty. He said to them, " Ye shall receive 
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you ; 
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, 
and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
part of the earth." 

He lifted up his hands and blessed them. — They 
must have trembled at the significancy of the act. — 
There might well be a rush of all tender emotions 
as he ended, for they were losing him. He was as- 



444 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

cending — floating upward, as if heaven were drawing 
its owu to itself. It was at a season when the sky of 
Palestine is usually cloudless ; but as the disciples 
gazed, a cloud formed, and gathered around him, and 
shut him from their sight. 

Two angels stood beside them. :t Ye men of Gaii- 
lee," they said, " why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? 
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into 
heaven shall come again in like manner as ye have 
seen him go into heaven."* 

He icill appear again, but it will be in the majesty of 
the Judgment Bay. 



CHAPTER XLY. 

WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? 

" "What think ye of Christ ?" It was a question- 
once put by him to his disciples ; and we put it here, 
now, to ourselves. 

We have been endeavoring, in this work, to 
bring fully to our minds the scenes of his earthly 
ministry ; but there was still a part of his being 
which we could not reach, and which we could only 
glance at in these pages ; feeling, in the mean time, 
how grand and glorious was that which was beyond 
our sight. 

But what we did see was wonderful. We say, as 
we follow Jesus in all the phases of his life here, 

* See Luke xxiv. 5U-53 ; Acts ii. 4-11. 



What think ye of Christ? 445 

Never could such a character have been invented by 
man. It must have been real, for it could not other- 
wise have been portrayed. It rises so high in its 
grandeur of outline (so far as we can trace it), as to 
be far beyond any previous human conception ; — to 
be lost to us in the infinities, such as belong to God : 
while also its influence reaches our minutest thoughts 
and actions in an operative, practical form. It is 
God infinitely extended ; and yet God with us, in 
our heart and life. 

We have, in these pages, seen him common amojig 
men, yet perfect ; subject to our infirmities, yet sin- 
less ; in actual power elevated above all around him, 
holding nature's laws in his grasp, yet bearing him- 
self in quietude of manner ; insulted, subjected to 
violence, treated with bitterest scorn, yet, "in it all, 
only becoming the more sublime and Godlike, by for- 
giveness, and tenderness, and mercy. 

His teachings have been, ever since they were 
uttered, like a purifying healthful atmosphere, sweep- 
ing moral pestilence and death before them, wherever 
they have gone. At the same time he was the 
Example as well as Teacher, however impossible, 
when we consider his Godhead, this might have 
appeared. "The first shall be last," he said ; and 
he, the God, became so ; even in lowest humiliations, 
and lowest services to men. He wins our hearts by 
showing himself humble as the humblest can be : 
taking our affections, he carries them up toward 
heaven, to be there imbued with the grandeur of his 
own infinities. 

We cannot compare him with others, whether as 
teacher or example ; for he stands all alone in the 



446 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

world, incomparably beyond all else that the world 
has seen. Lie fills our sight as we gaze, and we feel 
that there is nothing else ; and that we want nothing 
else. The infinities of our soul, both in intellect and 
emotion, all are satisfied in him. Our need for the 
practical is satisfied ; our aspirations after the ideal 
are satisfied. Sinners that we are ; — he is sufficient : 
when we are bowed down with guilt, he lifts us up : 
most unworthy as we feel ourselves to be, we know 
that he loves us still : our hearts, made to love the 
true, the good, the great, find all they can need 
ready for them in him : our souls want a Gr.od, whom 
we can altogether love, and whom, at the same time, 
we may worship as the infinite, and they have it all 
in him : in our present fleeting state we long for the 
eternal, and yet do not wish it, unless, with it, may 
be that affection which gives life to our souls here, 
which only grows stronger with time and more beau- 
tiful by experience, and which, strongest of all feel- 
ings and most expansive, wants infinites for its 
object ; towards Christ we may let all our love pour 
out, now and forever ; for he is worthy, and hath 
first loved us with an infinite love. 

Such is Christ. 

We have been reading of his miracles, and have 
wondered : and they are so amazing that people also 
sometimes doubt. But there is a miracle now actually 
before our eyes, which no one can doubt, and which 
must be convincing. It is a far greater miracle than 
any which he performed on earth. It is the miracle 
of himself as portrayed in the Scriptures. xVmid all 
incredulity and every disposition to scepticism, still 
no one can doubt that we have, in the New Testa- 



What think ye of Christ ? 447 

merit, a character delineated, winch, as a mere de- 
lineation, is beyond all ever thought of before, and 
all else imagined since. Regarded fully, it is itself 
a miracle beyond anything described in the Gospels ; 
and it is now clearly before our minds and open to 
our apprehension. Theodore Parker says of Christ, 
" Try him as we try other teachers. They deliver their 
word, find a few waiting for the consolation, who 
accept the new tidings, follow the new method, and 
soon go beyond thtir teacher, though less mighty 
minds than lie. Though humble men, we see what 
Socrates and Luther never saw. But eighteen cen- 
turies have passed, since the Sun of humanity rose 
so high in Jesus ; what man, what sect has mastered 
his thought, comprehended his method, and so fully 
applied it to his life?"* 

If, with our present enlightenment and our vast 
means for knowledge, we feel that this character of 
Christ rises so high above all that can be conceived 
of by human beings, how much more must this have 
been the case in those ancient times of darkness and 
superstition ? Who in heathen lands could have in- 
vented such an ideal as this ? Who in Judea ? Espe- 
cially, who among the unlettered men who wrote 
those Gospels ? 

The reader, while perusing these pages, may, per- 
haps, have sometimes felt in his mind the query, how 
do I know that those four books were actually written 
by the men whose names they bear? Although, even 
if they were not written by them, still the undenia- 
ble miracle of such a character would remain, for the 
fact of its delineation is before us, and must have 

Discourses of Religion, p. 303. 



448 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

had its origin somewhere ; yet, as it may be satis- 
factory to know the evidence for the authorship 
claimed, we give here the chain of proofs, — for our 
space will allow only of this — showing with what 
confidence our minds, on this subject, may feel at 
rest. 

We begin with men hostile to Christianity, tracing 
the evidence backward, from the times when this re- 
ligion was fully engrafted on national forms and in- 
stitutions, and became a part of the world's widest 
histories. 

Julian (surnamed the Apostate, A. D. 331-363,) 
wrote against Christianity ; he referred to the gene- 
alogies of Matthew and Luke by name, and recited 
the sayings of Christ in the very words of the Scrip- 
tures. He also bore testimony to the Gospel of John 
being composed at a time when great numbers in 
Greece and Italy had been converted to the Chris- 
tian faith. He admitted the miracles of Christ. 

PorpJiyry wrote (about A. D. 270) a work against 
Christianity. 'His learning was extensive. His 
writings contain references to the Gospels of Mat- 
thew, Mark and John. He did not deny the truth 
of the Gospel history, and conceded the miracles of 
Christ as real facts. 

The Talmuds (about A. D. 230 ; see ante, p. 90) refer 
to the nativity of Christ, and his journey into Egypt, 
and agree that he performed numerous miracles, 
which they ascribed to his having acquired the 
Shemmaphoresh, or the ineffable name of God, which 
they say he clandestinely stole out of the temple : or 
they impute his power to magic arts. 

Celsus flourished A. D. 176, or about seventy -six 



What think ye of Christ? 449 

years after the death of Saint John. His works 
have about eighty quotations from the books of the 
New Testament or references to them. " Among 
these there is abundant evidence that he was ac- 
quainted with the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and 
John. His whole argument proceeds upon the con- 
cession that the Christian Scriptures were the works 
of the authors to whom they are ascribed. Such a 
thing as a suspicion to the contrary is not breathed ; 
and yet no man ever wrote against Christianity with 
greater virulence."* 

The younger Pliny, in a letter to Trajan, written 
A. D. 107, (or seventy-four years after the crucifixion,) 
from Bythinia, where he was pro-consul, says : " For 
this superstition is spread like a contagion, not only 
into cities and towns, but into country villages also ;." 
and " that there are many, of every age, of every rank, 
and of both sexes," adhering to it. He put many to 
torture, and could learn from them, only " that they 
were wont, on a stated day, to meet together before 
it was light, and to sing a hymn to Christ, as to a 
god, alternately ; and to oblige themselves by a sa- 
crament [or oath] not to do anything that was ill ; 
but that they would commit no theft, or pilfering, 
or adultery ; that they would not break their promise, 
or deny what was deposited with them, when it was 
required back again ; after which it was their custom 
to depart, and to meet again at a common but inno- 
cent meal,"t probably their feast of charity. It 
may be as well to quote his account of the manner of 
treating those brought before him : " I asked them 



° Hell vain' s Lectures. 

f Quoted from his letter to the Emperor. 



450 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

whether they were Christians or not? If they con- 
fessed that they were Christians, I asked them again, 
and a third time, intermixing threatening with the 
questions. If they persevered in their confession, I 
ordered them to be executed ; for I did not doubt 
but, let their confession be of any sort whatsoever, 
this positiveness and inflexible obstinacy deserved to 
be punished." The Christians had already become 
so numerous in Bythinia, (a region bordering north- 
wardly on the Black Sea and Sea of Marmora,) that, 
as this letter says, the heathen temples had been al- 
most forsaken, and " few purchasers for the sacrifices 
had of late appeared."* 

Tacitus, who wrote about the same time as Pliny, 
speaking of the Christians, says : " The name was 
derived from Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius suf- 
fered under Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea. 
By that event, the sect of which he is the founder, 
received a blow which for a time checked the growth 
of a dangerous superstition ; but it revived soon after 
and spread with recruited vigor, not only in Judea, 
the soil that gave it birth, but even in the city of 
Rome ;"t and he then describes the persecutions of 
the Christians under Nero (thirty-one years after the 
death of Christ,) in a manner which shows that they 
must then have been very numerous in that city. 

We may perhaps be allowed to add, 

Josephus, (born A. D. 37, perhaps not hostile, but 
indifferent.) He says, " Now there was, at this time, 
[government of Pilate,] Jesus, a wise man, if it be 
lawful to call liim a man, a doer of wonderful works — 
a teacher of such men as receive the truth "with plea- 

5 Epist Lib. x, ch. 97. f Anna]. Lib. xv. §44. 



What think ye of Christ? 451 

sure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, 
and also many of the Gentiles. This was the Christ ;" 
and Josephus then speaks of his crucifixion and re-" 
surrection ; and of the sect of Christians subsisting 
to the writer's time, (Antiq. xxiii, 3, § 3.) The pas- 
sage has such force that opposers have, " contrary to 
all evidence, affirmed it to be spurious." (See Home's 
" Introduction.") 

We proceed now to Christian writers, of whom we 
have an unbroken series, extending back into the 
times of the apostles themselves : Jerome, (about 
A. D. 378,) who wrote many works, and whose cata- 
logue of the New Testament Scriptures, is exactly 
like our own : Origen, (A. D. 185 to 253,) bears" testi- 
mony to the authenticity of the New Testament as we 
now have it : his pupils, Gregory, bishop of Nco- 
Cassarea, and Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, did 
the same : Cyprian, a martyr, (A. D. 258,) quotes 
largely from our sacred books : Tertullian (A. D. 
160-220,) recognizes the four Gospels, as written by 
the Evangelists to whom we ascribe them, and has 
large extracts from their works : Clement of Alexan- 
dria, preceptor of Origen, quotes largely from most of 
the books of the New Testament : Athenagora* (A. D. 
180,) indisputably quotes from Matthew and John : 
Irenceus (A. D. 170,) wrote treatises from which we 
learn that he received as authentic and canonical 
Scripture the four Gospels, the authors of which he 
describes, and the occasions on which they were writ- 
ten : Melito, bishop of Sardis, Hegesippus, and Ta- 
tian, all of about the same period, have left us similar 
testimony : Justin, (born about 89, suffered martyr- 
dom about 164.) who studied first the Grecian philos- 



452 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

pphies, and then embraced Christianity, has left us 
numerous quotations from the four Gospels, which 
lie uniformly represents as containing the genuine and 
authentic accounts of Jesus Christ and of his doc- 
trine ; and says that lie was read and expounded in. 
the Christian assemblies for public worship : Papias, 
bishop of Hierapolis (about A. D. 110.) bears express 
testimony to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, which 
he ascribes to these evangelists : Polycarp, an immediate 
disciple of St. John and bishop of Smyrna, (suffered 
martyrdom about A. D. 166,) has, in the very small 
portion of his writings now remaining, about forty 
allusions to the different books of the New Testa- 
ment : Ignatius (bishop of Antioch, A. D. 70, suffered 
martyrdom about 110,) distinctly quotes the epistles of 
Matthew and Mark, and cites, or alludes to, the Acts 
and most of the Epistles : Her mas, eo temporary with 
St. Paul, (see Epistle to the Romans xvi. 14,) has left 
a work in three books, which contains numerous allu- 
sions to the New Testament : Clement, bishop of Rome, 
and fellow-laborer of Paul, (see Philippians iv, 3,) 
wrote an epistle, several passages in which exhibit the 
words of Christ as they stand in the Gospels, and cites 
most of the Epistles: Barnabas, fellow-laborer with 
Paul, (Acts xiii, 2, 3, <fcc.) is the author of an epistle 
still extant, in which are expressions identically the 
same as some occurring in the Gospel of Matthew, 
and one in particular which is introduced with the 
formula it is v:ritten, which was used by the Jews 
when they cited their sacred books. He quotes most- 
ly from the Old Testament, as he was arguing chiefly 
with Jews. But his epistle contains the exact words 
of several texts in the New Testament, in addition to 



What think ye of Christ? 453 

those noticed above, and allusions to some others, -with 
many phrases used by the Apostle Paul. 

In the writings of these last jfive, (called the Apos- 
tolic Fathers, because co temporary with the apos- 
tles,) although they are often only fragmentary, there 
is scarcely a book of the New Testament which one 
or other of them has not quoted or referred to ; and 
they uniformly speak of them as ' c Scriptures," " Sa- 
cred Scripture/' and as the " Oracles of God." 

We have thus an unbroken chain of testimony, 
running up to the apostolic period, showing that the 
Gospels and other books of the New Testament were 
written at the time, and by the persons, when and by 
whom they profess to have been composed. 

And now, holding by this testimony, there stands 
out before us, again, the miracle of Christ himself in 
the world ; such a character, such a teacher, such a 
being as those Gospels exhibit to us ; not a myth, 
not an ideal, not an abstraction, but a reality, living, 
acting, suffering, dying, and yet perfect and sinless, 
and giving us doctrines such as might be let down 
from the highest place in heaven itself. 

We quote here from Mr. Parker again : ?* Mea- 
sure," he says, " the religious doctrine of Jesus by 
that of the time and place he lived in, or that of any 
time or any place ; yes, by the doctrine of eternity. 
Consider what a work his words and deeds have 
wrought in the world. Remember that the greatest 
minds have seen no farther, and added nothing to the 
doctrine of religion ; that the richest hearts have felt 
no deeper, and added nothing to the sentiment of 
religion ; have set no loftier aim, no truer method 
than his, of perfect love to God and man. Measure 



*u4 Life-scenes from the Four Gospels. 

him by the shadow he has cast into the world — no, 
by the light he has shed upon it. Shall we be told 
such a man never lived ? the whole story is a lie ? 
Suppose that Plato and Newton never lived. But 
who did their wonders, and thought their thoughts ? 
It takes a Newton to forge a Newton. What man 
could forge a Jesus ? None but a Jesus. ,; * 

Of similar import is a passage in the writings of J. 
J. Rousseau : " Shall we suppose the evangelical his- 
tory a mere fiction ? Indeed, my friend, it bears not 
the marks of fiction ; on the contrary, the history of 
Socrates, which no body presumes to doubt, is not so 
well attested as that of Jesus Christ. Such a suppo- 
sition, in fact, only shifts the difficulty, without obvi- 
ating it. It is more inconceivable that a number of 
persons should agree to write such a history, than 
that only one should furnish the subject of it. Ihe 
Jewish writers were incapable of the diction and 
strangers to the morality contained in the Gospel, 
the marks of whose truth are so striking and inimit- 
able, that the inventor would be a more astonishing 
character than the hero." 

What shall we say, then, in answer to the question, 
"What think ye of Christ ?" His own character be- 
fore us, as the greatest of possible miracles ; his 
teachings, felt by all the world to be like the breath 
of heaven on its wretchedness and guilt ;' his ex- 
ample perfect, and yet with a perfection that does 
not repel, but attracts us ; his love to us so great 
that, when the majesty of God's unchangeable law over 
the universe was about to pour vengeance on us the 
guilty, that love brought him to earth as the sacri- 
° "Life of Jesus," p. 363. 



What think ye of Christ ? 455 

fice, that " with his stripes we might be healed/' arid 
that " on liirn might be laid the iniquity of us all :"* — 
this is the Christ and God, trying to draw us to him- 
self. In reply to the question, we bow in faith, and 
gratitude, and adoration, and love, exclaiming in the 
words of one of the Apostles, " My Lord and my 
God !" 

e Isaiah liii, 5, 6. 



THE END 



INDEX 



A. 

Acra, mount, 302: altar of the temple, 120; Anna's house, 
366: Antiochus Epiphanes, 57 ; Antonia, tower of, 3 06; 
Aramean language, 55 ; apostles chosen, 180 : do- sent forth, 
204 ; da. return, 206 ; ArcheJaus, 61 ; argumentum ad homi- 
nem, 391 ; ascension of Christ, 443 ; attempt to seize Christ, 
240 ; authenticity of the Scriptures — heathen, &c. testimony, 
448, &c. : Christian do., 451, &c.. 

B. 
Baptism among the Jews, 23 ; beautiful gate of the temple, 119 ; 
Bethabara,22 ; Bethany, 246 ; Bethesda, pcol of, 1G9 ; heal- 
ing there, 170 ; Bezetha, 302 ; blind man healed, 202 : do. 
(born blind) healed, 253 ; do. Bartimeus, 297 ; bloody sweat, 
cases of, 364, note ; body of Christ after the resurrec- 
tion, 433. 

C. 
Csesarea Philippi, 214 ; Caiapha3' hall, and the trial there, 368 ; 
C.jna, marriage feast there. 111 ; do., C hrist's second visit to 
it, 140 ; calmed, sea of Galilee, 200 ; Capernaum, its probable 
situation, 150 ; do , healings there, 156, 176, 180 ; centu- 
rion's servant healed, 183 ; Chagigali rej icing, 378 ; Chel, 
119 ; children as a model, 221 : received ad blessed by 
Christ, 279 ; cleansing of the temple, 130, 319 : cloisters of 
the temple, 117 ; Colbonists, 128 ; court of the Gentiles, 
118 : do. of the women, 119 : do. of Israel, 120 ; crucifixion, 
how regarded by the Bomans, 388 : do., it3 action on body 
and mind, 402. 

D. 
Dancing, religious, in the temple court, 230 ; darkness, super- 
natural, 404 ; Decapolis, 4000 fed there, 212 ; dedication, 



458 INDEX. 

fea^t of, 258 ; demoniacs healed, 200 ; deputation from the 
Sanhedrim to John, 41, &c. ; desecration of the temple by 
the Jews, 129, 318 ; desert of Judea, 35, &c. ; dinner with a 
Pharisee, 197, 273 : do. with publicans and sinners, 201 ; 
disciples, the first attached 107 : do., the 70 sent out, 222 ; 
do., they return and report their mission, 2G2 ; do , dispute 
amo ng, 221 ; divinity or its altriUit s claimed by Christ, 1G6, 
172, 261, 371,380 ; dress of the Jews, 70; dropsy healed, 274. 

E. 
Education among the Jews, 68 ; Ephraim, city of, 273 ; Esdrae- 
lon, plain of, 142 ; Essenes, 93 ; excavations und r the tem- 
ple, 125 : do. under ^he c'ty, 307 ; excommunication, kinds 
of, 251 ; expectations concerning the Messiah, 20. 

F. 

Festivals, 73 : do., journey ing3 to arid from, 81 ; feast of Dedi- 
cation, 253 : da. of Penteeost, 86 : do. of Taberoasles, 226, 
&c. : do. of Passover, 345, &e. : do. do , posture at, 347 : do. 
do , order of, 353 ; feeding of 5,000, p. 200 : do. of 4,000, p. 
212 ; first fruits, ceremony of cutt'ng, 378 ; flagella, 396 ; force 
of character in Christ, 171 ; funeral ceremonies, 189. 

G. 

Gabbatha, 382 ; Galilee de-cribed, 109 ; Gemara, 90 ; Gennesa- 
ret, plain of , 151 ; Ge hsemane, 261 ; Gilboa, Mount, 142; 
Golgotha, 398 ; good Samari an- parable, 249 ; govcrm rs cf 
Judea, CI ; guards at the tomb, 414 : do. do. bribed, 423. 

H. 

Hallels, 229 ; beamings, miraculous, 140, 156, 158. 162, 166, 170, 
173, 176, 194, 197, 2C0, 2C2, lb., 2C4, 207, 211, 212, lb., 220, 
225, 253, 271, 273, 274, 297, 316, 365 ; H brew language, its 
changes, 54; h'er-d the Great, 58, &c. ; Herod Ant'pas. Gl : 
do, wishes to see Jesus, 206 ; ( hr!st bef re him, 385 ; Hero- 
dians, who ihey were, 93 ; do and Pharisees conspire again t 
Christ, 174, 321 ; heroism of Christianity, 135, 329 ; high 
priests, li t of, 337, &c. ; Hillel, 98 ; history of Palestine, 53, 
Horns of Hattin, 178 ; hosannas to Christ, 312, 317 ; houses 
in Palestine, 163. 



INDEX. 459 

J. 

Jacob's well, Christ there, 138 ; James and John, their ambi- 
tious request, 292 ; Jericho described, 280, &c. ; Jeru c alem 
described, 300, &c. ; Jewish teachings, 182 ; do. manners, 62, 
69 ; Jews, how regarded by foreigners, 95 ; John at the Jor- 
dan, 17 : his teachings, 25 : his history, 28 : is imprisoned, 
136: sends messengers to Christ, 193: is bi headed, 195; 
Jordan ds cribed, 18 ; Joseph of Arimathea, 411 ; Jost, a 
modern Jewish historian extracts from, 96, &c, ; Judas, 
where from probably, 110 : determines to betray Christ, 341 : 
is unmasked, 351 : hangs himself, 394. 

K. 

King — they would make Christ king, 209. 

L. 

Lake of Galilee described; 148 ; Lazarus restored to life, 271 ; 
leper healed, 162 : ten others, 223 ; leprosy described, 160, 
224 ; L : ghtfoot, 90 ; Little Hermon, mo.. 142 ; loneliness of 
Christ, 177 ; Lord's supper instituted, 354; Lulabb, 228. 

M. 

Maccabees, 57 ; Manifestations of Christ after the resurrection, 
429,432,435,436,437,438, 439,442, 443; manners of the 
Jews, 69 ; Mazzuroth, 73 ; Messiah, expectations concerning, 
20; Messiahship claimed by Christ, 140, 146 ; Mishna, 89; 
rnoDey chests and money changers at the temple, 127 ; Moriah, 
115 ; mount, the sermon on, 176, &c. ; Mount of Olives, 115, 
246,311. 

N. 

Xain— dead man restored to life, 190 ; Nathanael, 108 ; Naza- 
reth described, 142 ; do. visited by Christ and scene there, 
145 ; do. do. a second time, 202 ; Nicodemus, 133, 245, 411; 
nobleman of Capernaum — his son healed, 140. 

P. 

Palestine described, 50, &c. ; paralytic healed, 166 ; Parker, 
Theodore, quotations from, 447, 453 ; Passover supper, how 
observed. 353 ; Perea, 222; Peter, his want of faith, 210 ; do 
at the Passovei supper, 352 ; do. denies his Lord, 374 ; Pha- 
risees described, 43 : phylacteries described, 46 ; Pilate, his 



460 INDEX. 

character, 3S2 ; pilgrims in Austria. 75 ; plot against Christ, 
335 : priests, ranks of. 241 ; prophecies respecting Christ, 30 ; 
proseuchae, 64 ; Publicans, 21. 

B. 
Resurrection of Christ, 422 : do. not disputed by the Sanhe- 
drim. 424. &c. : Roman governors, 61 ; do. standards in Je- 
rusalem. 21 ; Eousseau, J. J., quotations from, 454 ; ruler's 
daughter healed, 202 ; rumor that the kingdom of heaven 
should immediately appear, 296. 

Sadducees described. 43 ; Samaria described, 52. kc. ; Sanhedrim 
how composed, 40 : do., their council room, 110; Scribes, 
who they were 92 ; sepilchre, 411 : do. found open, 428 : 
sermon on the mount, ISO ; Shammed, 93 ; simlah. 70 ; Sole- 
mon"s porch, 117, 259 ; supper at Bethany. 340 ; synagogues 
described. 64. 

T. 

Tabernacles, feast of, 226, &c. ; Tabor, Mount, 142 ; talith, 67 ; 
Talmuds, 90 ; temptations of Christ, 37 ; temple — first tem- 
ple, 114: second do., 114: third do., (Herod's.y 115: do. 
edifice, 120 : do. cleans-id, 130 : do. do. second time 
318 ; traditions, S3 ; trafficking in the temple, 129 ; transfigu- 
ration of Christ, 217 ; trials in Judea, rules for, 331, kc. ; 
trial in the house of Caiaphas, 369, 379 : do. before Pilate, 
332, Arc. ; triumphal entry into Jerusalem, 312. kc. ; Tyro- 
peon vallev, 300. 

U. 

Unwritten law, 88. 

V. 

Veil of the temple, 123: do. do. rent in twain, 407; vine of 
gold, 121. 

W. 

Christ walks on the water, 210 : washing of ha-:ds, 19S ; weep- 
ing over Jerusalem, 314 ; Wilderness of Judea, 35, kc. : do 
do. road across, from Bethany. 243 ; wine among the ancients, 
112 ; woes denounced, 323, kc. 

7 ' > 

Zaccheos, 293. 




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